Dye sensitized solar cells using well-aligned zinc oxide nanotip arrays

Well-aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanotip arrays were grown on fluorinated tin oxide coated glass using metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Dye (N719) sensitized photoelectrochemical cells comprising of ZnO nanotip arrays were fabricated and characterized. It is found that the power conversion efficiency of the cells increases with the length of the ZnO nanotips. The cells with 3.2 mu m ZnO nanotip array exhibited an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency of 21.1% (at 550 nm) and a power conversion efficiency of 0.55% under 1 sun irradiance. Light harvesting in ZnO nanotips also contributes to the photocurrent in the UV range. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.