Fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cell using nanocomposited aligned ZnO nanorod/Nb-doped TiO2 at different Nb-doped concentrations

In this study, the Nb-doped TiO₂ films were prepared on glass substrate and their structural and electrical were investigated. Meanwhile, the nanocomposited aligned ZnO nanorod/TiO₂:Nb were formed by deposited the Nb-doped TiO₂ film on top of aligned ZnO Nanorod on ITO-coated glass substrates using spin coating technique. The nanocomposited aligned ZnO nanorod/Nb-doped TiO₂ (TiO₂:Nb) were coated with different Nb concentrations of 0 at.%, 1 at.%, 3 at.%, 5 at.% and 7 at.%, respectively. The DSSCs were fabricated from the nanocomposited aligned ZnO nanorod/TiO₂:Nb photoanode with 0 at.%, 1 at.%, 3 at.%, 5 at.% and 7 at.% and their effects on the performance of the DSSCs were investigated. From the solar simulator measurement the solar energy conversion efficiency (η) of 5.376% under AM 1.5 was obtained for the ZnO nanorod/TiO₂:Nb-5at.% photoanode DSSC. The enhancement of energy conversion efficiency η attributed of TiO₂:Nb in terms of better electrical properties that contributed to higher photocurrent density as well as conversion efficiency. Furthermore, the dye absorption and IPCE for ZnO nanorod/TiO₂:Nb-5at.% were higher than others.