The performances of the mercurochrome-sensitized composite semiconductor photoelectrochemical cells based on TiO 2/SnO 2 and ZnO/SnO 2 composites

• Published in: Thin solid films Vol. 468; no. 1; pp. 291 - 297
• Main Authors: Liu, Zhaoyue, Pan, Kai, Zhang, Qinglin, Liu, Min, Jia, Ruokun, Lü, Qiang, Wang, Dejun, Bai, Yubai, Li, Tiejin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 2004
• Subjects: Composite electrodes; Energy barriers; Percolation; Photocurrent; Energy barriers; Photocurrent; Percolation; Composite electrodes
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2004.05.033

Mercurochrome-sensitized composite TiO 2/SnO 2 and ZnO/SnO 2 photoelectrochemical cells (DSC) have been fabricated from the mixture of the SnO 2 particles and the semiconductor colloid (TiO 2, ZnO). The influence of the mixed ratio on the performances of the composite semiconductor photoelectrochemical cells was studied. Comparing the composite TiO 2/SnO 2 and ZnO/SnO 2 cells with the corresponding TiO 2 and ZnO cells, the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency of the composite cells was improved greatly. The photovoltage spectra (SPS) indicated that the dye molecule was adsorbed mainly by the TiO 2 and ZnO particles respectively in the composite cells. The energy barriers between the different semiconductors contributed to the improvement of the short-circuit photocurrent. The possible transport mechanism of the photogenerated electrons in composite cells was percolation through the SnO 2 particles.