Sonochemical synthesis and characterization of a Zn(II) supramolecule, bis(2,6 diaminopyridinium)bis(pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylato)zincate(II), as a novel precursor for the ZnO-based dye sensitizer solar cell

• We reported a new and one pot sonochemical synthesis for preparation of ZnO nanoparticles.
• Two kinds of nanoparticle sizes were obtained just by using different solvent.
• The ZnO photoelectrode was fabricated by utilizing the ZnO powders as transparent and scatter layers.
• A new ZnO-based DSSC with an average of 1.2% as the conversion efficiency and 30 ms as electron lifetime was obtained.

Synthesis of Zn(II) supramolecules as precursors for the fabrication of the zinc oxide nanostructures is an important issue in nanomaterials research. In the present study, the Zn(II) supramolecular compound, [pyda.H]+2[Zn(pydc)2]2−{(pyda.H)+ = pyridine-2,6-diamuniun, (pydc)2− = pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate}, has been prepared by sonochemical method in two different solvents and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and thermal gravimetric analysis. Two different kinds of ZnO nanoparticles with the average particle sizes of about 30 and 350 nm were obtained by thermal degradation of complexes prepared in dry methanol and deionized water as solvents, respectively. For preparing the photoanode of the dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on ZnO nanocomposite, the obtained nanopowders were used to act as transparent and scattering layers. The ZnO-based DSSCs were fabricated by N719 Ruthenium dye and all photovoltaic parameters were measured as well. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique has been used to study the DSSCS performance. As a result, a new type of ZnO based-DSSC with appropriate values of the conversion efficiency (1.22%) and the electron lifetime (30 ms) was obtained.

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