Structural and optical properties of tripod-like ZnO thin film and its application in dye-sensitized solar cell

In this work, we have synthesized Zinc oxide (ZnO) tripods and used its thin film as photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells. SEM micrographs of the as-prepared sample of ZnO confirmed tripod-like morphology consisting of three cylindrical arms with well-defined ends, joined at a common core. The prepared sample of ZnO tripods was further characterized by EDX, XRD, UV-VIS, and FTIR. The dye N719-sensitized solar cell fabricated with photoanode of ZnO prepared in this work provided the open-circuit photo voltage (Voc) = 0.558 V, short-circuit photocurrent (Jsc) = 6.368 mA cm-2, fill factor (FF) = 0.50, and total conversion efficiency (η) = 0.88 % under full light illumination (intensity 200 mW cm−2). When cell was illuminated by visible light (150 mW/cm2), Voc = 0.546 V, Jsc = 4.437 mA/cm2, FF = 0.54, and η = 0.88 % were obtained.