Surfactant assisted approach to development of efficient WO3 photoanode for natural dye sensitized solar cell

Herein, the single-step hydrothermal route has been successfully implemented to design a surfactant-assisted WO3 photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The influence of surfactant on growth and photoresponse properties of the dye-sensitized WO3 have been studied. Optical absorption study shows a direct allowed type of electronic transition with band gap energy lies in the range of 2.82-2.38 eV. The formation of pure hexagonal crystal with tuning in the surface morphology from nanospheres to nanoflowers were obtained in the structural and morphological investigation. The compositional analysis confirms the formation of stoichiometric films with respective valence states of W+6 and O-2(-). Photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized WO3 demonstrates improved photocurrent from 1.53 to 2.61 mA/cm(2) corresponding to photovoltage of 690-764 mV. The best photo-conversion efficiency of 3.52% was obtained for the W-SDS sample of DSSC. The IPCE measurement are well supported to PEC performance of the DSSC. The stability of the prominent W-SDS photoanode was performed to confirm the suitability and reproducibility of photoelectrode. The charge transfer properties of DSSC were analyzed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).

Automated summary

In this study, a surfactant-assisted WO3 photoanode for DSSC was successfully designed using a single-step hydrothermal route. The surfactant's influence on the growth and photoresponse properties of dye-sensitized WO3 was investigated. The results showed improved photovoltaic performance, with a direct allowed type of electronic transition and a band gap energy ranging from 2.82 to 2.38 eV. The formation of pure hexagonal crystals and tuning in surface morphology from nanospheres to nanoflowers were also observed.