Estimation of ZnO Nanoparticles Crystallite Parameters at Different Compression Temperatures

In this work, ZnO films were processed utilizing a standard blade coating procedure at different compression temperatures (50 to $90^{\circ}\mathrm{C}$ temperature at 120 MPa compression). The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) technique is used to characterize the films. The crystallite sizes, microstrains, and dislocation densities of the ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) sample were studied using several methods, including the Modified Scherrer method, the Wagner-Agua (W-A) method, and the Halder-Wagner (H-W) method, based on XRD data. The results were compared to observe the effects of compression temperatures on various structural parameters. From the analysis, it is evident that ZnO nanoparticles are crystallite in nature with a hexagonal wurtzite phase. The crystallite size calculated from the Modified Scherrer method, the H-W, and the W-A methods match very well, are greatly inter-correlated, and range from 12.7 to 15.29 nm. The dislocation density and lattice strain exhibited an inverse relationship with crystallite size. The crystallinity improves gradually up to $70^{\circ}\mathrm{C}$ with increasing compression temperatures, then decreases. However, impacts on various crystallite components caused by various temperatures at 120 MPa pressure are also utilized to characterize the Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) behavior. The photovoltaic performance of the $70^{\circ}\mathrm{C}$ temperature 120 MPa compressed cell was shown to be better where the average crystallite size was comparatively large.