Structure and Optical Properties of Al-Doped ZnO Nanodrums as Anti-Reflection Coating Material in Solar Cells

Putri Luthfiana Sari; Hanik Munawaroh; Sayekti Wahyuningsih; Ari Handono Ramelan

doi:10.22146/ijc.39260

Structure and Optical Properties of Al-Doped ZnO Nanodrums as Anti-Reflection Coating Material in Solar Cells

https://doi.org/10.22146/ijc.39260

Putri Luthfiana Sari⁽¹⁾, Hanik Munawaroh⁽²⁾, Sayekti Wahyuningsih^(3*), Ari Handono Ramelan⁽⁴⁾

(1) Inorganic Material Research Group, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sebelas Maret University, Kentingan Jebres Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
(2) Inorganic Material Research Group, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sebelas Maret University, Kentingan Jebres Surakarta 57126, Indonesia; Chemistry Program, Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University, Kentingan Jebres Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
(3) Inorganic Material Research Group, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sebelas Maret University, Kentingan Jebres Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
(4) Inorganic Material Research Group, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sebelas Maret University, Kentingan Jebres Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanodrums were synthesized using hydrothermal method at 80 °C for 20 h using precursor Zn(CH₃COO)₂·2H₂O and Al(OH)(CH₃COO)₂ as a dopant by varying the addition of Al concentrations in the range of 0, 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mM. The variation of Al can affect structure properties, optical properties and the crystal growths of ZnO. Addition of Al can inhibit the crystal growth with the decrease of the crystal size ranging from about 43.46 to 37.21 nm. Morphology of Al variation doped ZnO of Al was studied using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and showed nanodrums morphology. Optical properties of thin film AZO was evaluated using UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The transmission spectra showed that AZO has ~85% transparency in the visible spectra with a sharp peak in the UV region. AZO with the addition of 20 mM Al has the largest transmittance and the lowest reflectance. The crystallite size of AZO can affect optical properties with the occurrence of blue shift. The thin film with transparent properties is a good candidate for application in the dye-sensitized solar cells, such as anti-reflecting coating. AZO was prepared as anti-reflection on the DSSCs system. The best efficiency of DSSCs performance was examined by varying the thickness of the layers of AZO and pointed an efficiency improvement up to 18.29 times.

Keywords

Al-doped ZnO; structure properties; optical properties; anti-reflection coating; DSSCs

Full Text:

Full Text PDF

References

[1] Grätzel, M., 2003, Dye-sensitized solar cells, J. Photochem. Photobiol., C, 4 (2), 145–153.

[2] Wahyuningsih, S., Fadillah, G., Hidayat, R., and Ramelan, A.H., 2016, Thin film ZnO coated on FTO/TiO₂ as an anti-reflection coating for enhancing visible light harvesting in dye sensitized solar cells system, Procedia Chem., 19, 632–637.

[3] Putri, A.A., Wahyuningsih, T.D., and Kartini, I., 2011, Hydrothermal synthesis of rod and chrysanthemum like nanostructured ZnO, Indones. J. Chem., 11 (2), 131–134.

[4] Choi, K., Kang, T., and Oh, S.G., 2012, Preparation of disk-shaped ZnO particles using a surfactant and their PL properties, Mater. Lett., 75, 240–243.

[5] Aslan, M.H., Oral, A.Y., Menşur, E., Gül, A., and Başaran, E., 2004, Preparation of c-axis-oriented zinc-oxide thin films and the study of their microstructure and optical properties, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 82 (4), 543–552.

[6] Vinodkumar, R., Lethy, K.J., Beena, D., Satyanarayana, M., Jayasree, R.S., Ganesan, V., Nayar, V.U., and Pillai, V.P.M., 2009, Effect of thermal annealing on the structural and optical properties of nanostructured zinc oxide thin films prepared by pulsed laser ablation, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 93 (1), 74–78.

[7] Kim, C.E., Moon, P., Kim, S., Myoung, J.M., Jang, H.W., Bang, J., and Yun, I., 2010, Effect of carrier concentration on optical bandgap shift in ZnO:Ga thin films, Thin Solid Films, 518 (22), 6304–6307.

[8] Yun, S., Lee, J., Yang, J., and Lim, S., 2010, Hydrothermal synthesis of Al-doped AZO nanorod arrays on Si substrate, Physica B, 405 (1), 413–419.

[9] Nunes, P., Fortunato, E., Tonello, P., Fernandes, F.B., Vilarinho, P., and Martins, R., 2002, Effect different dopant elements on the properties of ZnO thin films, Vacuum, 64 (3-4), 281–285.

[10] Sengupta, D., Mondal, B., and Mukherjee, K., 2017, Genesis of flake-like morphology and dye-sensitized solar cell performance of AZO particles: A study, J. Nanopart. Res., 19 (3), 100.

[11] Jeong, C., Kim, H., Chang, D., and Kamisako, K., 2008, Effect on Al₂O₃ doping concentration of RF magnetron sputtered ZnO:Al film for solar cell applications, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 47 (7), 5656–5658.

[12] Zhang, P., Hong, R.Y., Chen, Q., and Feng, W.G., 2014, On the electrical conductivity and photocatalytic activity of aluminium-doped zinc oxide, Powder Technol., 253, 360–367.

[13] Monshi, A., Foroughi, M.R., and Monshi, M.R., 2012, Modified Scherrer equation to estimate more accurately nano-crystallite size using XRD, World J. Nano Sci. Eng., 2 (3), 154–160.

[14] Ghazai, A.J., Salman, E.A., and Jabbar, Z.A., 2016, Effect of aluminum doping on zinc oxide thin film properties synthesis by spin coating method, Am. Sci. Res. J. Eng., Technol., Sci., 26 (3), 202–211.

[15] Sahay, P.P., and Nath, R.K., 2008, Al-doped zinc oxide thin films for liquid petroleum gas (LPG) sensors, Sens. Actuators, B, 133 (1), 222–227.

[16] Shui, A., Wang, S., Wang, H., and Cheng, X., 2009, Preparation and properties for aluminium doped zinc oxide powders with the coprecipitation method, J. Ceram. Soc. Jpn., 117 (5), 703–705.

[17] Jung, M.H. and Chu, M.J., 2014, Synthesis of hexagonal ZnO nanodrums, nanosheets and nanowires by the ionic effect during the growth of hexagonal ZnO crystals, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2 (32), 6675–6682.

[18] Ridhuan, N.S., Lockman, Z., Aziz, A.A., and Razak, K.A., 2016, Properties of Al-doped ZnO nanorods synthesized using the low-temperature hydrothermal method, Mater. Sci. Forum, 846, 459–464.

[19] Irannejad, A., Janghorban, K., Tan, O.K., Huang, H., Lim, C.K., Tan, P.Y., Fang, X., Chua, C.S., Maleksaeedi, S., Hejazi, S.M.H., Shahjamali, M.M., and Ghaffari, M., 2011, Effect of the TiO₂ shell thickness on the dye-sensitized solar cells with ZnO-TiO₂ core-shell nanorod electrodes, Electrochim. Acta, 58, 19–24.

[20] Hong, C.S., Park, H.H., Moon, J., and Park, H.H., 2006, Effect of metal (Al, Ga, and In)-dopants and/or Ag-nanoparticles on the optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films, Thin Solid Films, 515 (3), 957-960.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/ijc.39260