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Nanocrystalline tin dioxide (SnO2) doped with Zn (1, 2, 3, and 4% molar ratio) was synthesized via co-precipitation method. The influences of replacing tetravalent Sn4+ ions of SnO2 by divalent Zn2+ ions on their structural, optical and morphological properties were studied. The XRD pattern showed the rutile tetragonal phase for all doped and undoped SnO2 samples. The XRD studies further confirmed that the average crystallite sizes of the doped samples decreased with the increasing of dopant concentrations. The SEM images verified that the grain size and surface morphology changed with the concentration of Zn2+ doping. The EDX analyses confirmed that the prepared nanomaterials were composed of the expected elements tin, oxygen and zinc. The optical properties of the nanomaterials were investigated by means of UV–Vis spectroscopy technique. The band gap energies were calculated using Tauc's method and it was found to decrease when Zn2+ concentration increased. Room temperature photoluminescence study at the excitation wavelength of 280 nm showed strong and weak emission peaks between 340 and 420 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted considerable attention as good candidates for enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells (OSCs) owing to their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). In this study, the effect of embedding colloidal gold nanoparticles (cAu NPs) in the ZnO electron transport layer (ETL) on the PCEs of wide band gap polymer-based inverted OSCs was investigated. The active layer was composed of a bulk heterojunction of conjugated polymer based on indacenodithieno[3,2- b ]thiophene and 5,5'-di(thiophen-2-yl)-2,2'-bithiazole PIDTT-DTBTz as a donor and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM) as an acceptor. The PCE of the reference device was improved by 22% when 10 wt% cAu NPs were embedded in the ZnO ETL. The short circuit current density ( J SC ) and fill factor (FF) were the main photovoltaic parameters contributing to the PCE enhancement. An improved absorption in the active layer due to the LSPR of cAu NPs as well as efficient exciton dissociation and charge collection were found to be the reasons for the enhanced J SC while the increase in FF was mainly due to the suppressed traps and improved conductivity of the ZnO layer by the NPs., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)