Journals Proceedings

Abstract

Semiconductor metal oxide nanowires (SCMONWs) are favorable materials for various quantum devices which have one dimensional interaction and huge surface-to-volume ratio. Growth of these nanowires is commonly performed using expensive techniques requiring high vacuum and high temperature conditions, which also consume some hazardous raw materials. However, the sol-gel technique employed in this study is used primarily for the fabrication of materials including metal oxides beginning from a wet chemical solution, where low temperatures and non-vacuum conditions are utilized. Indium tin oxide (ITO) is generally used as a transparent conducting oxide for solar cells and LCD, touch screens applications. In this work, indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoparticles, nanowires and thin films are prepared on glass substrates by sol-gel technique and used for the production of nano-crystalline dye-sensitized solar cells (nc-DSSC), which are a relatively new class of low-cost thin film solar cells. Structural, topographical and chemical analyses were performed using XRD, SEM and EDS. SEM analysis confirm the presence of 15 nm thick and 500 nm long nanowires obtained 24h treatment ITO. The transparency of the ITO films is analyzed using UV spectrometer. 24h treatment of ITO nanowires in nc-DSSCs causes an improvement of 83 % in the power converted efficiency and 30 % indecent photo current efficiency with respect to pure TiO2 based dye sensitized solar cells