An Efficient Dye-Sensitive Solar Cell Based on Ag₂O/ZnO Natural Dyes Modified by Gold Nanoparticles

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are the third generation of solar cells. Compared with traditional silicon-based solar cells, DSSCs have the advantages of low cost, good flexibility, and sustainability. Photoanode, as the carrier of the electron transport layer and dye adsorption, plays a crucial role in DSSC. However, the conversion efficiency of single-layer structured photoanode is still low, and the short-circuit current density is small. To solve these problems, we carried out doping modification and structural optimization of the ZnO single-layer photoanode. The main work is as follows: 1) considering that the band gap of ZnO is 3.3 eV, the addition of Ag2O (1.2~1.5 eV) nanoparticles on the basis of single-layer ZnO thin films can reduce the band gap distance, and further improve the optical response of the material in the range of visible light; 2) using the plasmon effect, a small number of gold nanoparticles are inserted into the lattice of the main material to provide more free charge; 3) the use of natural dye sensitizers improves the photoelectric conversion efficiency of DSSC and reduces the overall cost. The results of material characterization and photoelectrochemical performance test show that the current density is increased by 176% and the photoelectric conversion efficiency is increased by 195%.