Invertis Journals of Renewable Energy

Laxmi J. Tomar ¹, Piyush J. Bhatt ¹, Rahul K. Desai ¹, C. J. Panchal ¹, Bishwajit S. Chakrabarty ¹

Affiliations
1 Applied Physics Department, The M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, IN

Abstract

Al and Mg doped TiO₂-ZrO₂ semiconducting nanopowder samples were prepared for dye sensitized solar cell application. The structural properties were examined by X-ray diffraction. The results revealed that TiO₂ exists in two different phases Anatase and Rutile whereas ZrO₂ exists in Monoclinic and Tetragonal phases. The average crystallite size for Al and Mg doped samples was found to be 8.16 nm and 6.90 nm respectively. The optical properties were evaluated by UV-Visible spectroscopy. Both the Al and Mg doped TiO₂-ZrO₂ nanocomposites show optical absorption in UV region. The optical bandgap was found to be 2.96 eV and 3.34 eV for Al and Mg doped TiO₂-ZrO₂ nanocomposites respectively. Dye-sensitized solar cell was fabricated using Al and Mg doped TiO₂-ZrO₂ nanocomposite as conducting material and pomegranate juice as sensitizer. The I-V characteristics were recorded to measure photo response of DSSC. Photovoltaic parameters like open circuit voltage, power conversion efficiency, and fill factor were evaluated for the fabricated solar cell. The power conversion efficiency of DSSC fabricated with Al and Mg doped TiO₂-ZrO₂ nanocomposites was found to be 3.88% and 2.15% respectively.

Keywords

Hydrothermal Method, Nanocomposites, Dye Sensitized Solarcell.

Full Text