Spinel oxide incorporated photoanode for better power conversion efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells

In this study, ZnMn2O4 (ZMO) nanoparticles were synthesized and mixed with the commercial TiO2 to prepare composite photoanode. Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) device was fabricated and highest power conversion efficiency of 5.09% was obtained for the cell with 0.1 wt% of ZMO in the photoanode, while in similar condition the device with pure TiO2 photoanode showed power conversion efficiency of 4.124%. This improvement in the power conversion efficiency of the composite photoanode based cell was attributed to the presence of critical amount of ZMO which synergistically improve the light absorption, charge transport properties prevented charge recombination, eventually it improved open-circuit voltage (V-oc) and short-circuit current (I-sc).

Automated summary

In this study, ZnMn2O4 (ZMO) nanoparticles were synthesized and combined with commercial TiO2 to prepare a composite photoanode for a Dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) device. The inclusion of ZMO in the photoanode significantly improved the power conversion efficiency in comparison to devices with pure TiO2 photoanode, mainly due to the enhancements in light absorption, charge transport, prevention of charge recombination, leading to improvements in Voc and Isc.