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In this work, we present the potassium niobate (KNbO 3 ) nanoparticles as a suitable mesoporous photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The KNbO 3 particles were synthesized by the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method using mild conditions and characterized by SEM, XRD, Raman, and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance. The particles presented a pyramidal tower-like shape with an orthorhombic structure and an indirect bandgap of (3.0 ± 0.1) eV. Dye-sensitized solar cells were assembled using the synthesized KNbO 3 nanoparticles, which were deposited as a photoelectrode on a TiO 2 recombination charge blocking layer. It is noticeable that the synergistic operation of the TiO 2 blocking layer and KNbO 3 photoelectrode is essential to achieve photovoltaic behaviour in our solar cells. The short-circuit current density of J sc = 2.82 mA, open-circuit voltage V oc = 669 mV, fill factor FF = 0.62, and a power conversion efficiency PCE = 1.17%, reports elevated parameters if compared to other DSSCs alternative materials, becoming potassium niobate suitable as photoelectrode.

This paper reports a theoretical and experimental study of the heterostructure photocatalytic activity in a CdS or ZnS and CdS@ZnS decorated system prepared by a microwave assisted solvothermal (MAS) method. A theoretical model of the decorated system was created in order to analyze the electronic transition mainly in their interface. The results show that CdS and ZnS interfaces produce an electron charge transfer from the CdS electron-populated clusters to the ZnS hole-populated clusters which helps to enhance the photocatalytic activity of the CdS@ZnS decorated system.