Characterization of Synthetic Ni(II)-Xylenol Complex as a Photosensitizer for Wide-Band Gap ZnO Semiconductor Electrodes

摘要

A synthetic Ni~(II)L(H_(2)O)_(2) complex (L velence xylenol orange, 3,3'-bis [N,N-di(carboxymethyl)-aminomethyl]-o-cresol sulphonapthalein (H_(2)O)_(2)), which is a water-soluble dye, has been studied for its photosensitizing properties at n-ZnO semiconductor electrodes prepared by sol-gel techniques. The absorption spectrum of aqueous solution of this complex exhibits a strong peak at 563 nm and a shoulder at 526 nm wavelength of light. The sandwich-type dye-sensitized solar cell using ZnO semiconducting thin film with test dye anchored onto it showed the cell output as follows: V_(OC) velence 0.506 V, J_(SC) velence 1.68 mA cm~(-2), and FF velence 0.41 under illumination with full spectrum of light (intensity 520 mW cm~(-2)), while on illumination with visible light (lambda > 420 nm, intensity 480 mW cm~(-2)), V_(OC) velence 0.506 V, J_(SC) velence 1.4 mA cm~(-2), and FF velence 0.49 were achieved. Maximum incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency for the present system was found to be 8.7percent at wavelength ((lambda)_(max) velence 563 nm).