Electrochemical Fabrication of ZnO nanorod solar cells and The effect of dye loading in photocurrent

The development and research of solar cells have been driven by quickly increasing energy consumption and carbon emissions from fossil fuel-based energy sources. Specifically, one-dimensional nanostructures such as ZnO nanorod with direct paths for charge transport is efficient for solar cell application. It is considered as a promising semiconductor material for solar cell application. ZnO nanorods have application in organic and inorganic solar cells. The performance of solar cells depends on the structure of the nanorod. Hence, In this report, Various growth method was attempted for ZnO-nanorod synthesis and analyzed. Zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn(NO2)3.6H2O) and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) (C6H12N4) were the common precursors used in the different Electrodeposition deposition processes. During the deposition, it was found that the growth rate depends on time, temperature, and concentration. In the end, the prepared nanorod was utilized in DSSC and the maximum current density attained was around 0.36 mA/cm
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with an open-circuit voltage of 0.53V. Finally, the performance of DSSC using ZnO nanorod was measured by AAA solar simulator at an intensity of 100mW/cm
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. Forty-four percent enhancement is observed in photocurrent by changing the dye loading time from 8 hours to 12 hours.