Fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cell based on mixed tin and zinc oxide nanoparticles

In this study, we prepare zinc oxide and tin oxide nanoparticles employing the sol–gel method. Each of these materials possesses certain advantages and limitations for fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and a mixture of these nanoparticles can enhance the performance of the DSSC. We prepared SnO₂/ZnO mixture with 5 different weight ratios and made photoanodes from them. These photoanodes demonstrate different amounts of dye-absorption which is an important factor for increasing the produced current of the DSSC. The charge transport dynamics of the DSSCs were investigated by EIS and OCVD measurements and the electron lifetime was calculated from them. The DSSC fabricated from a SnO₂/ZnO ratio of 1:2 demonstrated the best electron lifetime and charge transport dynamics. Our best DSSC showed a short circuit current density of 8.8 mA/cm², an open circuit voltage of 658 mV and a fill factor of 50% which resulted in a conversion efficiency of 2.9% and showed an improvement of, respectively, 21% and 106% in comparison with the cell prepared from pure zinc and tin oxides.