Monitoring structural dynamics of in situ spray-deposited zinc oxide films for application in dye-sensitized solar cells.

The spray-deposition technique is an effective and scalable method to deposit zinc oxide nanostructures, which are used as active layers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) in the present study. The dynamics of structural evolution are studied with grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering during in situ spraying. Nanostructured films obtained through multiple spray shots provide suitable structural length scales, morphologies, and film thicknesses; this leads to reasonable performance in a DSSC with the highest short-circuit current density reported so far.