Highly efficient yttrium-doped ZnO nanorods for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells

Yttrium-doped ZnO nanorod arrays were applied to photoanodes of quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSCs). The introduction of yttrium to ZnO nanostructures facilitates the growth of ZnO nanorods and increases the amount of QD deposition with a large surface area. Furthermore, lower electrical resistance and longer electron lifetime were achieved with yttrium-doping owing to fewer defects and trap sites on the surface of yttrium-doped ZnO nanorods. As a result, the conversion efficiency of 3.3% was achieved with the optimized concentration of yttrium. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.