Influence of ZnO growth temperature on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cell utilizing TiO2-ZnO composite film photoanode

TiO2 nanoflower (NF)-ZnO composite films were synthesized by using liquid phase deposition (LPD) and dip coating method. At the lower growth temperature below 50 A degrees C, the morphology of the sample is nanoflower, while at the temperature above 50 A degrees C, the morphological shape of nanoparticle was obtained. The diameter of ZnO nanoparticle decreases 21.0% with the growth temperature. The thickness of the sample increases with growth temperature until the optimum temperature of 50 A degrees C. The absorption of the uncoated dye samples is about the same. The decrease percentage of absorption for the coated dye samples is 15.0%. The dye-sensitized solar cell utilizing the TiO2-ZnO composite synthesized at 30 A degrees C demonstrated the highest photovoltaic performance with eta = 0.63 +/- 0.02%, J (sc) = 1.91 +/- 0.05 mA cm(-2), and V (oc) = 0.64 +/- 0.02 V due to the highest optical absorption, lowest leak current, highest dye loading, smallest bulk resistance (R (s)), highest recombination resistance (R (cr)), and longest charge carrier lifetime (tau).