Taşdemirci, Tuba Çayir

Cadmium oxide (CdO) thin film was grown on a glass substrate at room temperature using the Successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The grown thin films were annealed at 3500C and 4000C for 30 min. Structural and optical properties of CdO thin films after annealing were examined. Analyzes were made with X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and Scanning electron microscope-Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDAX) devices for structural properties, and UV–Vis devices for optical properties. The XRD peak intensities of CdO thin films exposed to annealing temperature increased and the crystal structure improved. The bandgap energy range decreased from 2.48 eV to 2.37 eV with the effect of annealing temperature.

Kilic, Bayram; Turkdogan, Sunay; Astam, Aykut; Baran, Sümeyra Seniha; Asgin, Mansur; Gur, Emre; Kocak, Yusuf

Developing efficient and cost-effective photoanode plays a vital role determining the photocurrent and photovoltage in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Here, we demonstrate DSSCs that achieve relatively high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) by using one-dimensional (1D) zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires and copper (II) oxide (CuO) nanorods hybrid nanostructures. CuO nanorod-based thin films were prepared by hydrothermal method and used as a blocking layer on top of the ZnO nanowires’ layer. The use of 1D ZnO nanowire/CuO nanorod hybrid nanostructures led to an exceptionally high photovoltaic performance of DSSCs with a remarkably high open-circuit voltage (0.764 V), short current density (14.76 mA/cm2 under AM1.5G conditions), and relatively high solar to power conversion efficiency (6.18%). The enhancement of the solar to power conversion efficiency can be explained in terms of the lag effect of the interfacial recombination dynamics of CuO nanorod-blocking layer on ZnO nanowires. This work shows more economically feasible method to bring down the cost of the nano-hybrid cells and promises for the growth of other important materials to further enhance the solar to power conversion efficiency.