Electrochemical deposition of nanoporous ZnO films and their photoelectrochemical performance

Nanoporous ZnO films were fabricated on ITO substrate by a two-step solution approach, which involves the electrochemical deposition of nanoporous ZnO/eosin Y hybrid films and subsequently desorption treatment to remove eosin Y molecules. Nanoporous ZnO films with grain size of 10-20 nm were obtained. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed that nanoporous ZnO film had a hexagonal wurtzite structure, and the EDS results exhibited that the film was composed of Zn and O, and no other elements was detected. The prototype dye sensitized solar cell device utilizing the nanoporous film as photoelectrode was fabricated, exhibiting an open-circuit photovoltage of 0.68 V, a short-circuit photocurrent density of 0.79 mA/cm(2), and an overall conversation efficiency of 0.26% under white light illumination.