Speaker
Description
Abstract: Zinc oxide (ZnO) has been widely studied over the last decade for its remarkable properties in optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices because of its high electron mobility and excitonic
properties. It has probably the broadest range of nanostructured forms that are also easy and cheap
to synthesize using a wide variety of methods. The volume of recent work on ZnO nanostructures
and their devices can potentially overshadow significant developments in the field. Therefore, there
is a need for a concise description of the most recent advances in the field. In this review, we focus on
the effect of ZnO nanostructure morphologies on the performance of ZnO-based solar cells sensitized
using methylammonium lead iodide perovskite. We present an exhaustive discussion of the synthesis
routes for different morphologies of the ZnO nanostructure, ways of controlling the morphology, and
the impact of morphology on the photoconversion efficiency of a given perovskite solar cell (PSC).
We find that although the ZnO nanostructures are empirically similar, one-dimensional structures
appear to offer the most promise to increasing photoconversion efficiency (PCE) by their proclivity to
align and form vertically stacked layers. This is thought to favor electron hopping, charge mobility,
and conductivity by allowing multiple charge conduction pathways and increasing the effective
junction cross-sectional area. The combined effect is a net increase in PCE due to the reduced surface
reflection, and improved light absorption.
