Structural and photoelectrochemical characteristics of nanocrystalline ZnO electrode with Eosin-Y

Structural and photoelectrochemical characteristics of nanocrystalline ZnO solar cell have been studied in relation to sintering temperature and thickness of ZnO electrode. Photoelectrochemical properties depend strongly on fabrication conditions. Short circuit current and open circuit voltage were dependent on the sintering temperature of ZnO electrodes. This suggests ZnO nanoparticles network to act not only as a large surface area substrate for the dye molecules but also as a transport medium for electrons injected from the dye molecules. The incident monochromatic photon-to-current conversion efficiency was improved by increasing the thickness of the ZnO electrode. The best conversion efficiency was 2.4% for a 1 cm2 cell.