Rational design of hierarchical ZnO superstructures for efficient charge transfer: mechanistic and photovoltaic studies of hollow, mesoporous, cage-like nanostructures with compacted 1D building blocks.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Mesoporous and hollow zinc oxide (ZnO) hierarchical superstructures assembled with compact 1D building blocks that provide an efficient and faster transport pathway for photo-generated charge carriers have been synthesized using a biomass derived polysaccharide "alginic acid". To understand the interactions between the organic bio-template and inorganic growth units of ZnO in aqueous medium, the effects of additives such as the alginate ion (ALGI) and ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH), along with the controlled reaction conditions, are investigated using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and powder X-ray diffraction. Dynamic and steady-state photoluminescence measurements are carried out to understand the charge transfer processes in the compact 1D superstructures. Experimental analyses reveal that the alginate ions, under hydrothermal reaction conditions, act as a structure directing agent and assemble 1D ZnO nanorods (NRs) hierarchically while NH4OH assists the formation of ZnO growth units. A plausible mechanism for ZnO cage formation is proposed based on the experimental observations. Morphology dependent photovoltaic properties of ZnO heterostructures, i.e., for ZnO cages, ZnO NRs and ZnO PNPs, have been studied along with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Enhancement of ∼ 60% and ∼ 35% in power conversion efficiency (PCE) is observed in ZnO cage based devices as compared to ZnO NR- and ZnO PNP-based devices, respectively.
منابع مشابه
Enhanced photovoltaic performance utilizing effective charge transfers and light scattering effects by the combination of mesoporous, hollow 3D-ZnO along with 1D-ZnO in CdS quantum dot sensitized solar cells.
A combination of 3-dimensional (3D) hollow mesoporous ZnO microspheres (ZnO HMSP) and vertically grown one-dimensional ZnO nanowires (1D ZnO NWs) on a fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate has been investigated as a photoanode for a CdS quantum dot-sensitized solar cell (QSSC). A comparative study of the photovoltaic performance of the solar cell with devices fabricated with pri...
متن کاملThree Dimensional ZnO Hierarchical Nanostructures:
Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have been studied extensively in the past years due to 12 the novel electronic, photonic, mechanical and electrochemical properties. Recently, more attention 13 has been paid to assemble nanoscale building blocks into three dimensional (3D) complex 14 hierarchical structures, which not only inherit the excellent properties of the single building blocks 15 but als...
متن کاملThree-Dimensional ZnO Hierarchical Nanostructures: Solution Phase Synthesis and Applications
Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have been studied extensively in the past 20 years due to their novel electronic, photonic, mechanical and electrochemical properties. Recently, more attention has been paid to assemble nanoscale building blocks into three-dimensional (3D) complex hierarchical structures, which not only inherit the excellent properties of the single building blocks but also provi...
متن کاملMetal-free organic dyes for TiO2 and ZnO dye-sensitized solar cells
We report the synthesis and characterization of new metal-free organic dyes (namely B18, BTD-R, and CPTD-R) which designed with D-π-A concept to extending the light absorption region by strong conjugation group of π-linker part and applied as light harvester in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We compared the photovoltaic performance of these dyes in two different photoanodes: a standard TiO...
متن کاملHierarchical Heterostructure of ZnO@TiO2 Hollow Spheres for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution
The rational design and preparation of hierarchical nanoarchitectures are critical for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, well-integrated hollow ZnO@TiO2 heterojunctions were obtained by a simple hydrothermal method. This unique hierarchical heterostructure not only caused multiple reflections which enhances the light absorption but also improved the lifetime and...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
دوره 18 7 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2016