ZnO THIN FILMS PROPERTIES MODIFIED BY BN-DOPED VIA SOL-GEL SPIN COATING TECHNIQUE

In this study, pristine and boron nitride (BN)-doped ZnO thin films were synthesized via the sol-gel spin coating technique to investigate their structural, morphological, and optical properties for application as photoanodes in DyeSensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs). XRD confirmed the hexagonal wurtzite structure, with defect-induced structural distortions appearing at higher B doping concentrations. Increasing B doping concentration led to a decrease in crystal size from 37.5 nm to 26.7 nm, accompanied by a significant surface transformation into a worm-like structure surrounded by flake-like features. EDS confirmed the presence of Zn and O peaks, while the low-intensity B peaks were attributed to weak X-ray signals and low B content. SEM revealed an increase in surface roughness with higher doping concentration which affects optical properties. The calculated optical band gap decreased from 3.37 eV to 3.28 eV, possibly due to increased defect states and lattice distortion. The results highlight the role of B doping in modifying properties, with ZOB-1 achieving the highest efficiency of 1.91% in DSSC application.