A Comparative Photovoltaic Study of Perforated ZnO Nanotube/TiO2 Thin Film and ZnO Nanowire/TiO2 Thin Film Electrode-based Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

We demonstrate for the first time novel perforated ZnO nanotube /TiO2 electrode-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). From the current-voltage characteristics, the open-circuit voltage V-OC, short-circuit current; density J(SC), and the fill factor FF were determined to be similar to 0.84 V, similar to 4.82 mA/cm(2), and 0.60, respectively. We obtained a power conversion efficiency, eta, of similar to 2.4% under air mass 1.5 global solar conditions. This represented an improvement of approximately 2 times as compared to ZnO nanowire/TiO2 electrode-based DSSCs. The superior photovoltaic performance and J(SC) value are attributed to high dye loading and high light harvesting via the high surface area of the ZnO nanotubes.