Characteristics of SnO2 nanofiber/TiO2 nanoparticle composite for dye-sensitized solar cells

Jiawei Gong; Hui Qiao; Sudhan Sigdel; Hytham Elbohy; Nirmal Adhikari; Zhengping Zhou; K. Sumathy; Qufu Wei; Qiquan Qiao

doi:10.1063/1.4922626

AIP Advances (Jun 2015)

Characteristics of SnO2 nanofiber/TiO2 nanoparticle composite for dye-sensitized solar cells

Jiawei Gong,
Hui Qiao,
Sudhan Sigdel,
Hytham Elbohy,
Nirmal Adhikari,
Zhengping Zhou,
K. Sumathy,
Qufu Wei,
Qiquan Qiao

Affiliations

Jiawei Gong: Center for Advanced Photovoltaics, Department of Electrical Engineering, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
Hui Qiao: Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Jiangnan University, Ministry of Education, Wuxi 214122, China
Sudhan Sigdel: Center for Advanced Photovoltaics, Department of Electrical Engineering, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
Hytham Elbohy: Center for Advanced Photovoltaics, Department of Electrical Engineering, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
Nirmal Adhikari: Center for Advanced Photovoltaics, Department of Electrical Engineering, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
Zhengping Zhou: Center for Advanced Photovoltaics, Department of Electrical Engineering, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
K. Sumathy: Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102, USA
Qufu Wei: Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Jiangnan University, Ministry of Education, Wuxi 214122, China
Qiquan Qiao: Center for Advanced Photovoltaics, Department of Electrical Engineering, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4922626
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 5, no. 6
pp. 067134 – 067134-10

Abstract

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SnO2 nanofibers and their composites based photoanodes were fabricated and investigated in the application of dye-sensitized solar cells. The photoanode made of SnO2/TiO2 composites yielded an over 2-fold improvement in overall conversion efficiency. The microstructure of SnO2 nanofibers was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A compact morphology of composites was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A long charge diffusion length (62.42 μm) in the composites was derived from time constant in transient photovoltage and photocurrent analysis. These experimental results demonstrate that one-dimensional nanostructured SnO2/TiO2 composites have a great potential for application in solar cells.

Published in AIP Advances

ISSN: 2158-3226 (Online)
Publisher: AIP Publishing LLC
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Science: Physics
Website: http://aipadvances.aip.org/

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