Highly uniform hierarchical Zn2SnO4 microspheres for the construction of high performance dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

3D hierarchical Zn₂SnO₄ microspheres show great potential as alternative photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Herein, hierarchical Zn₂SnO₄ microspheres with different sizes are fabricated via a one-step hydrothermal method, and a plausible formation process for Zn₂SnO₄ microspheres is proposed. The DSSCS devices based on 1.20 μm Zn₂SnO₄ microspheres show the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.00%. Further, TiCl₄ treatment of a Zn₂SnO₄ microsphere photoanode results in an improved PCE up to 4.72%.