Characterization of nanocrystalline SnO2 thin film fabricated by electrodeposition method for dye-sensitized solar cell application

Nanocrystalline SnO2 thin film was prepared by cathodic electrodeposition–anodic oxidation and its structure was characterized by X-ray diffraction, SEM, UV–visible absorption and nitrogen adsorption–desorption by BET method. The obtained film has a surface area of 137.9 m2/g with grain sized of 24 nm. Thus the prepared SnO2 thin film can be applied as an electrode in dye-sensitized solar cell. The SnO2 electrode was successfully sensitized by Erythrosin dye and photoelectrochemical measurements indicate that the cell present short-circuit photocurrent (Jsc) of 760 μA/cm2, fill factor (FF = 0.4), photovoltage (Voc = 0.21 V) and overall conversion efficiency (η) of 0.06% under direct sun light illumination. The relatively low fill factor and photovoltage are attributed to the reduction of triodiode by conduction band electrons and intrinsic properties of SnO2.