scholarly journals Development of Well-Aligned TiO2Nanotube Arrays to Improve Electron Transport in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyung-Ho Chung ◽  
Md. Mahbubur Rahman ◽  
Hyun-Seok Son ◽  
Jae-Joon Lee

We fabricated well-aligned one-dimensional (1-D) titania nanotubes (TNT) on transparent conducting oxide (TCO) by anodization of Ti foil. Different lengths of TNTs were prepared by varying the applied potential (70 V) time, and we investigated the performance of these TNTs in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), transplanted onto a 6 μm TNP adhesion layer. The fabricated TNTs arrays (length 15 μm) photoelectrode showed 24% increased efficiency compared to the TNP photoelectrode of 17 μm thickness. We further investigated the performances of DSSCs for the TNTs (1 wt%) incorporated TNP photoelectrode and obtained 22% increased efficiency. The increased efficiency of the pure TNTs arrays and TNT-mixed TNP photoelectrodes was attributed to the directional electron movement of TNTs and light scattering effect of the TNT with the decreased rate of back electron transfer. The anodized and fabricated TNTs and DSSCs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).

2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 819
Author(s):  
Syed Mujtaba Shah ◽  
Zafar Iqbal ◽  
Muzaffar Iqbal ◽  
Naila Shahzad ◽  
Amina Hana ◽  
...  

Porphyrin dyes have an inherent tendency to aggregate. This leads to a self-quenching phenomenon that hinders electron transfer to the conduction band of semiconductors in dye-sensitized solar cells. Self-quenching adversely affects the efficiency of solar cells. Here, we report the interaction of porphyrin with pristine and acid-functionalized fullerene molecules on the surface of ZnO nanoparticles under chemisorbed conditions. Chemisorption of porphyrin only on ZnO nanoparticles instigates aggregation of the porphyrin molecules. These aggregates can be effectively broken by chemisorbing fullerene molecules on the surface of the ZnO nanoparticles. This is due to self-assembly formation processes because of porphyrin–fullerene interactions. The nanohybrid material, consisting of ZnO nanorods, acid-functionalized porphyrin, and fullerene derivatives, was characterized by UV–visible spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The material generates better performing dye-sensitized solar cells when compared with those fabricated from porphyrin-based photo-active material.


CrystEngComm ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changcheng Lin ◽  
Wei Liao ◽  
Wen Wang ◽  
Dong Sun ◽  
Qiaoyu Cui ◽  
...  

An important challenge for commercializing dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) is the development of efficient non-precious metal counter electrode (CE) materials, which have to be solved by using non-precious metal catalysts...


2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (49) ◽  
pp. 6629-6632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vediappan Sudhakar ◽  
Arulraj Arulkashmir ◽  
Kothandam Krishnamoorthy

A polymer–graphene blocking layer decreases back electron transfer and increases dye regeneration that improved the DSSC efficiency to 10.4%.


2010 ◽  
Vol 1270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Braden Bills ◽  
Mariyappan Shanmugam ◽  
Mahdi Farrokh Baroughi ◽  
David Galipeau

AbstractThe performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is limited by the back-reaction of photogenerated electrons from the porous titanium oxide (TiO2) nanoparticles back into the electrolyte solution, which occurs almost exclusively through the interface. This and the fact that DSSCs have a very large interfacial area makes their performance greatly dependant on the density and activity of TiO2 surface states. Thus, effectively engineering the TiO2/dye/electrolyte interface to reduce carrier losses is critically important for improving the photovoltaic performance of the solar cell. Atomic layer deposition (ALD), which uses high purity gas precursors that can rapidly diffuse through the porous network, was used to grow a conformal and controllable aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and hafnium oxide (HfO2) ultra thin layer on the TiO2 surface. The effects of this interfacial treatment on the DSSC performance was studied with dark and illuminated current-voltage and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 171054 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Llanos ◽  
I. Brito ◽  
D. Espinoza ◽  
Ramkumar Sekar ◽  
P. Manidurai

Y 1.86 Eu 0.14 WO 6 phosphors were prepared using a solid-state reaction method. Their optical properties were analysed, and they was mixed with TiO 2 , sintered, and used as a photoelectrode (PE) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The as-prepared photoelectrode was characterized by photoluminescence spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and X-ray diffraction. The photoelectric conversion efficiency of the DSSC with TiO 2 :Y 1.86 Eu 0.14 WO 6 (100:2.5) was 25.8% higher than that of a DSCC using pure TiO 2 as PE. This high efficiency is due to the ability of the luminescent material to convert ultraviolet radiation from the sun to visible radiation, thus improving the solar light harvesting of the DSSC.


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