Preparation of mixed metal oxide nanostructures derived from Zn/Ce-layered double hydroxide as a photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells

A systematic study is done on the preparation of ZnO/CeO2 mixed metal oxide (MMO) as a photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The MMOs are simply prepared via calcination of the Zn/Ce-layered double hydroxides (Zn/Ce-LDHs). The urea decomposition method is utilized for the preparation of the LDHs. Herein, the effect of various synthesis conditions, namely the amount of urea, the molar ratio of Zn2+ to Ce3+, and the calcination temperature on the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs are carefully evaluated. This is the first attempt to investigate the effect of the urea amount used in the synthesis of the LDH on the photovoltaic performance of the corresponding MMO in DSSCs. For this purpose, three series of the DSSCs are assembled by the three series of the MMOs that are synthesized under different conditions. The electrochemical method is used for measuring the photovoltaic performance of the DSSCs. All the examined parameters have a significant influence on the efficiency of the DSSCs. The best conversion efficiency reaches 2.08% (J(sc) = 6.34 mA cm(2), V-oc = 0.68 V, and FF = 0.48) by using 20:1 molar ratio of urea to metallic cations (Zn2++Ce3+) and 8:1 molar ratio of Zn2+ to Ce3+ and calcination of LDH at 700 degrees C. This is the best efficiency reported for the MMO based DSSCs.