Optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films synthesized by sol-gel method for the application in three-dimensional junction photovoltaics

In this study, we investigated the properties of ZnO nanostructures grown by a sol-gel method on glass substrates. First, the seed layer of ZnO were formed using zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH
₃
COOH)
₂
·2H
₂
O), 2-propanol (CH
₃
CH
₂
CH
₂
OH), and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as precursor material, solvent and sol stabilizer, respectively. The three dimensional ZnO nanostructures were then grown by the CBD(Chemical Bath Deposition) process. The solution was composed of zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn(NO
₃
)2·6H
₂
O) and hexamine (C
₆
H
₁₂
N
₄
). The properties of ZnO nanostructures were investigated by SEM, XRD, and UV-Vis-NIR. We found that the growth temperature and seed layer structure are important factors in controlling the structures of ZnO formed.