Zn based 3D-Coordination polymer as the photoanode material in dye-sensitized solar cells

3D-Coordination polymers (3D-CP) consisting of zinc and fumaric acid (FMA) were synthesized under solvothermal (ZnF-Sol) and reflux (ZnF-Ref) conditions with same Zn: FMA molar ratio in DMF. The structures and the properties of the 3D-CPs were found to be dependent of the synthesis method. Both 3D-CPs demonstrated wide band gap semiconductor properties with a 4.8 eV (Zn-Sol) and a 4.4 eV (ZnF-Ref) band gap. Owing to the lower band gap (4.4 eV), lower band bending/flat band potential (-0.49 V) and higher carrier concentration (4.48 x 10(-16) cm(-3)), ZnF-Ref was utilized in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) as the semiconductor material. A significant improvement in 3D-CP semiconductor based DSCs was observed with an energy conversion efficiency of 1.3 x 10(-3)% under simulated one sun irradiation.