Characterization of spray-deposited ZnO thin films for dye-sensitized solar cell application

ZnO films have been prepared on glass plates with concentrations of 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1 M each consisting of 50 ml of solution using the spray pyrolysis technique. A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was constructed by means of the obtained film for 0.1 M which was also coated above the ITO substrate. N-719, iodide and platinum-coated ITO glass plates were used as the dye, electrolyte and counter electrode, respectively. XRD confirms that the structure of the film was polycrystalline having wurtzite structure. The surface with pores was found from the FESEM studies. The DSSC shows an optical transmittance of approximately 70 % in the visible region. The photoluminescence study reveals the electronic structure of the material. The efficiency of the DSSC measured for a 0.1 M ZnO thin film by sensitizing every 2 h was eta = 0.51, 0.80, 0.54, 1.12, 2.11, 2.71, 3.15 and 3.20 %, respectively.