Electro-optical enhancement of nonporous Zn2SnO4-based dye-sensitized solar cell by electric field assisted sintering

Abstract Third generation nanostructure-based solar cells such as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are green and low-cost future substitute for silicon-based solar cells. Zinc Stannate-based DSSCs are attractive due to their interesting properties, but aggregated Zn2SnO4 nanoparticles are large in comparison to TiO2 nanoparticles which deteriorate DSSC performance. Electric field assisted sintering (EFAS) due to its outstanding impacts on optical and electrical characteristics is favorable. To this aim, we try to study the enhancement effect of EFAS on the performance of Zn2SnO4-based DSSCs. EFAS could manipulate nanostructure matrix remarkably to develop the effective surface area to gather higher amounts of dye molecules resulting enhanced light harvesting and improved current density further; this method helps to improve electron transportation by decreasing recombination probability. The reported strategy is applicable in numerous electro-optical devices including nanoporous medium such as perovskite solar cells.