Liquid junction photocells synthesized with dye coated zinc oxide films

Zinc oxide (ZnO) films fabricated using low cost methods were employed to synthesize a liquid junction photocell explained in this report. Methyl violet dye has been coated on ZnO films to enhance the light absorption. The thickness of the ZnO film and the separation between the Platinum electrode and ZnO film were varied in order to obtain the maximum efficiency of the photocell. The best photocurrent and photo-voltage could be measured for ZnO films coated with methyl violet dye for 12 hours. The optimum photocurrent obtained was 0.24 mA/cm², which was a higher photocurrent for Methyl violet coated ZnO films. But the photo-voltage measured was comparable to the photo-voltage of ZnO films measured by some other researchers. Hence, a considerably higher optimum efficiency such as 2.4% could be obtained for these ZnO films consist of ZnO nanoparticles. The higher effective surface area provided by ZnO nanoparticles is the possible reason for this higher photocurrent.

Keywords: Zinc Oxide, I-V characteristic curves, photocell, photocurrent and photo-voltage

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/josuk.v5i0.4088

J Sci.Univ.Kelaniya 5 (2010): 25-31