CdS/CdSe-sensitized solar cell based on Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles prepared by the decomposition of zinc acetate solid solution

•Preparing Al-ZnO by the decomposition of acetate solid solution.•CdS/CdSe core-shell co-sensitized solar cells based Al-ZnO.•Al-ZnO was an alternative to C-ZnO in sensitized solar cells.

In the study, Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles (Al-ZnO NPs) were prepared by the decomposition of zinc acetate solid solution. The X-ray diffraction results showed that Al3+ was successfully doped without the formation of Al and Al2O3 impurity phases. The less Al-doping did not change the hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure of ZnO. The ratio of Al to Al + Zn (9.05%) measured by the energy dispersive X-ray also confirmed the formation of Al-ZnO. The Al-ZnO NPs were used as the photoanode material to prepare CdS/CdSe-sensitized solar cell. Compared with the cell based on commercial ZnO NPs (C-ZnO), the short-circuit current density and the fill factor of the cell were increased from 5.8 mA/cm2 and 34.1% (C-ZnO) to 7.78 mA/cm2 and 48.7% (Al-ZnO), respectively. The cell efficiency was increased from 1.01% (C-ZnO) to (1.9%) (Al-ZnO) and the increase percentage reached 88.1%. The results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and open-circuit voltage-decay suggested the lower carrier transport resistance and the longer electron lifetime of Al-ZnO-based cell.