Zinc Stannate (Zn₂SnO₄) Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Developing new electrode materials is important for high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Previous research has mostly been limited to simple binary oxides. The application of multication oxides in DSSC has been rarely explored. In this communication, we report the promising application of Zn2SnO4 nanoparticles in DSSC. An overall light-to-electricity efficiency as high as 3.8% has been achieved under 1 sun AM 1.5 illumination. In comparison with ZnO and SnO2 as its simple component oxides, a Zn2SnO4 cell is more stable against acidic dyes than a ZnO cell, while it has much better performance than a SnO2 cell. Our results suggest that multication oxides, with the availability of a wide range of compositions and tunable properties, hold great promise as new electrode materials for DSSCs.