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Effect of ZnO seed layer thickness on hierarchical ZnO nanorod growth on flexible substrates for application in dye-sensitised solar cells

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Abstract

ZnO nanorod (NR) arrays are considered to be suitable for application in flexible photovoltaic devices due to the high surface-to-volume ratio provided by the one-dimensional nanostructure. Hierarchical ZnO NRs were grown on flexible ITO/PEN substrates by sputtering a compact ZnO seed layer followed by chemical bath deposition. The effect of ZnO NR growth with the variation of the seed layer thickness (50, 100, 300, 500 and 800 nm) was studied. It has been found that by varying the seed layer thickness, the individual rod diameter, density and alignment can be controlled. The SEM images confirmed that relatively thin seed layers give rise to more dense films, whereas thick seed layers result in less dense films. The applications of flexible ZnO NR electrodes were tested by employing them in dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSC). The performance of flexible DSSCs was evaluated by studying the key cell parameters. The effect of the seed layer thickness on DSSC performance was investigated. It has been found that the overall cell efficiency increased when the seed layer thickness was varied from 50 to 500 nm, whereas sharp decrease in efficiency was observed when the thickness was further increased to 800 nm. It was found that a seed layer thickness of 500 nm gave the highest overall efficiency of 0.38 % and incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency of 6.5 %. As well as having good electrical properties, ZnO NR films grown on ITO/PEN by this method have excellent reproducibility, and NR growth is readily controllable. This shows that these films have a wide range of potential applications including flexible energy harvesting and electronic devices.

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Acknowledgments

The authors TANP and KGUW acknowledge the support received from Johnson Matthey Plc. and RCUK. The author HA acknowledges the support received from Saudi Cultural Bureau to conduct his doctoral studies in the Renewable Energy Research Group of Department of Chemistry, Loughborough University. The author JSS was involved in this study when he was a visiting research student of Renewable Energy Research Group between August and October 2011. The author IAB contributed to this study when he was a postdoctoral fellow (funded by Pakistan Higher Education Commission) in Renewable Energy Research Group in the Department of Chemistry, Loughborough University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK

    T. A. Nirmal Peiris, Hussain Alessa, Jagdeep S. Sagu & K. G. Upul Wijayantha

  2. School of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK

    Patrick Isherwood

  3. Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan

    Ijaz Ahmad Bhatti

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  1. T. A. Nirmal Peiris
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  2. Hussain Alessa
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  3. Jagdeep S. Sagu
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  4. Ijaz Ahmad Bhatti
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  5. Patrick Isherwood
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  6. K. G. Upul Wijayantha
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Correspondence to K. G. Upul Wijayantha.

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Nirmal Peiris, T.A., Alessa, H., Sagu, J.S. et al. Effect of ZnO seed layer thickness on hierarchical ZnO nanorod growth on flexible substrates for application in dye-sensitised solar cells. J Nanopart Res 15, 2115 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-2115-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-2115-2

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