Ecofriendly sol-gel-derived dye-sensitized solar cells with aluminium-doped tin oxide photoanode.

The manuscript reports the fabrication of an eco-friendly sol gel dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on aluminium (Al)-doped tin oxide nanoparticles with different concentrations (0.5, 1, and 5 mol%) of Al providing enhanced optical and electrical properties than its bare counterparts. The physical, chemical, optical, and electrical properties of the as-synthesized nanoparticles were studied using different analytical tools. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study reveals the crystal structure of the prepared samples ascribed to SnO nanoparticles uniformly with reduced crystallite size for Al-doped SnO nanoparticles. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) analysis reveals narrowing of particle size on doping with the Al, substantially enhancing the optical and surface characteristic features of the SnO nanoparticles. Photoconductivity studies indicate that all the samples have a good linear response with the increment of electric field in dark and photocurrent attributing to better photoconversion capability of the samples. Further, the optimized Al-doped SnO and bare SnO nanoparticles were subjected to sophisticated analytical studies such as high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for the better insight into their properties. The as-prepared Al-doped SnO nanoparticles in the present study record good optical, surface, and electrical properties which enhance their compatibility for possible photovoltaic applications especially in dye-sensitized solar cells as an environmentally safe alternate energy solution. Further, the current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics of the optimized Al-SnO and bare SnO photoanode component were probed for their suitability in DSSCs which disclosed enriched efficiency upon doping with aluminium nanoparticles.