Thickness of ITO thin film influences on fabricating ZnO nanorods applying for dye-sensitized solar cell

Background and purposeIn order to compare the substrates influence on the properties of ZnO films and nanostructures, in this paper, the ITO substrates with different thicknesses were investigated.MethodITO thin films of different thickness (200 nme500 nm) were deposited on glass substrates by DC sputtering, on which ZnO nanorods were fabricated from as-deposited ZnO films by reducing annealing method.ResultsIt was found that the structural and electrical properties of ITO films were significantly influenced by the ITO film thickness. The roughness of ITO films was increased with increase in thickness. The Hall mobility of ITO films was also increased with the increase of film thickness; in contrast, the resistivity was decreased. The highest Hall mobility of 29.2 cm2/V s and the lowest resistivity of 1.303 × 10−4 Ω cm were obtained from 500 nm-thick ITO film. The structural properties of ZnO nanorods were significantly influenced by the ITO film thickness. The density of ZnO nanorods gradually decreased with the increase in thickness of ITO film.ConclusionThe overall conversion efficiency of demonstrated dye-sensitized solar cell was 2.11% with a fill factor 0.526, indicating high potential to be used as photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cell applications.