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Advances in Nano Research Volume 1, Number 1, March 2013, pages 43-58 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12989/anr.2013.1.1.043 |
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A review of zinc oxide photoanode films for dye-sensitized solar cells based on zinc oxide nanostructures |
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M.D. Tyona, R.U. Osujia and F.I. Ezema
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| Abstract [Full Text] | ||
| Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a unique semiconductor material that exhibits numerous useful properties for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and other applications. Various thin-film growth techniques have been used to produce nanowires, nanorods, nanotubes, nanotips, nanosheets, nanobelts and terapods of ZnO. These unique nanostructures unambiguously demonstrate that ZnO probably has the richest family of nanostructures among all materials, both in structures and in properties. The nanostructures could have novel applications in solar cells, optoelectronics, sensors, transducers and biomedical sciences. This article reviews the various nanostructures of ZnO grown by various techniques and their application in DSSCs. The application of ZnO nanowires, nanorods in DSSCs became outstanding, providing a direct pathway to the anode for photo-generated electrons thereby suppressing carrier recombination. This is a novel characteristic which increases the efficiency of ZnO based dye-sensitized solar cells. | ||
| Key Words | ||
| semiconductor; nanostructures; Zinc Oxide; recombination; optoelectronics | ||
| Address | ||
| M.D. Tyona: Department of Physics, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria R.U. Osujia and F.I. Ezema: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria | ||