Comparative Study of Eosin-Y and Rose Bengal Sensitized SnO2- ZnO Composite Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Abstract

In the present study, Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using SnO2 (Tin Oxide)-ZnO (Zinc Oxide) composite photoanodes. The mesoporous SnO2-ZnO composite photoanode was made by a doctor blade technique from SnO2 and ZnO nanostructures. The prepared films of SnO2-ZnO composite were characterized with UV-Visible spectroscopy to compare the band gap of composite material with pure SnO2 and pure ZnO. The prepared photoanodes were sensitized with Eosin-Y (EY) and Rose Bengal (RB) Photosensitizers. The photovoltaic performance of DSSC based on the SnO2-ZnO composite photoanodes was comparatively studied with EY and RB Photosensitizers. A photoconversion efficiency of about 0.09% and 0.17% were achieved for EY and RB-sensitized DSSCs. RB-sensitized DSSC shows the highest photoconversion efficiency compared to EY-sensitized DSSC. The RB-sensitized SnO2-ZnO composite-based DSSC shows nearly 53% greater efficiency than EY sensitized SnO2-ZnO composite-based DSSC.