Effect of Ni doping on the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of ZnO nanostructured dye sensitized solar cells

In this work, pure and Ni-doped ZnO nanostructures with dopant concentrations (2%, 4%, 6%) of Ni are successfully prepared via flame synthesis. The as-synthesized nanostructures are characterized using TEM, XRD, and FTIR spectrophotometer. Further the application of Ni doped ZnO nanostructures in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is investigated. The photovoltaic performance of DSSCs with photoanode of Ni doped ZnO nanostructures show the increase in efficiency from 3.76 % (ZnO) to 5.01 % and 5. 65 % with the dopant (Ni²⁺) concentration 2 % and 4% respectively. With the further increase in dopant concentration (6%) decrease in efficiency (3.53%) is observed, which may be due to increase in particle size and Burstein-Moss effect. (author)