Organic Dye-Sensitized Zirconium Doped Ce02 Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization andApplication in DSSCs

Abstract

In the present research work, pristine Ce02 and (1 -6)% transition metal (Zr) doped Ce0 2 nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by co-precipitation method and characterized with UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-Ray powder diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). UV-Visible spectroscopy was performed to investigate optical properties. It indicated that with an increase in Zirconium percentage ranging from 1 to 5%, a red shift was observed and with further increase indopant percentage, a decrease in wavelength was observed. Tauc plots of the synthesized nanoparticles showed tuning in band gap ranging from 3.25 to 2.65 eV. XRD analysis showed that the average crystallite size decreases with increasing dopant percentage. FR-IR was done to study functional group detection which confirmed that the prepared samples were pure and showed vibration bands of required samples. The nanoparticles were then used for the fabrication of nanohybrid assembly. FT-IR and UV -Visible spectra nanomaterial confirmed the successful sensitization of nanoparticles with CA and AZ dye. Nanohybrid materials were used as a photo anode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). CA and AZ dyes were used as photo sensitizers and P3HT used as a solid-state electrolyte to overcome drawbacks offered by liquid electrolyte. The nanohybrid materials showed a significant red shift towards the visible region with improved optical properties and better power conversion efficiency of DSSCs.