A new ZnO photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cell

The present work reports the preparation of nanostructured ZnO nanorods in a hydrothermal-electrochemical process and preliminary attempt to fabricate a dye-sensitized solar cell using this material as photoanode. Synthesis of ZnO nanorods in solutions with and without eosin Y dye, used as nanostructuring agent, was studied. ZnO nanorod arrays were characterized by photoluminescence spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. Fabricated dye-sensitized solar cell comprised a photoanode prepared with nanostructured ZnO nanorods and eosin Y dye, a platinum counter electrode and an electrolyte consisting of 0.5M KI + 0.03M I-2 in acetonitrile/ethylene carbonate (v/v=1/4). Performance parameters of dye-sensitized solar cell were extracted from standard current-voltage characteristic.