title: Sonochemical preparation of hierarchical ZnO hollow spheres for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.
abstract: Hierarchical ZnO hollow spheres (400-500 nm in diameter) consisting of ZnO nanoparticles with a diameter of approximately 15 nm have been successfully prepared by a facile and rapid sonochemical process. The formation of hierarchical ZnO hollow spheres is attributed to the oriented attachment and subsequent Ostwald ripening process according to time-dependent experiments. The as-prepared ZnO hollow spheres are used as a photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells and exhibit a highly efficient power conversion efficiency of 4.33%, with a short-circuit current density of 9.56 mA cm(-2), an open-circuit voltage of 730 mV, and a fill factor of 0.62 under AM 1.5 G one sun (100 mW cm(-2)) illumination. Moreover, the photovoltaic performance (4.33%) using the hierarchical ZnO hollow spheres is 38.8% better than that of a ZnO nanoparticle photoelectrode (3.12%), which is mainly attributed to the efficient light scattering for the former.
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Chun-Xiu
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Bing-Xin
authors.initials: BX
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Yu-Fen
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cheng-Yong
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Yue-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Dai-Bin
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Kuang
mesh_terms: D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D010777:Photochemistry; D012993:Solar Energy; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D015034:Zinc Oxide