Efficient Light Harvesting with Micropatterned 3D Pyramidal Photoanodes in Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

3D TiO2 photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are fabricated by the soft lithographic technique for efficient light trapping. An extended strategy to the construction of randomized pyramid structure is developed by the conventional wet-etching of a silicon wafer for low-cost fabrication. Moreover, the futher enhancement of light absorption resulting in photocurrent increase is achieved by combining the 3D photoanode with a conventional scattering layer.

Multi-layering of a nanopatterned TiO2 layer for highly efficient solid-state solar cells

“…12 The reflection spectra of each sample are shown over the spectral range of 350-700 nm in Figure 3d. The flat TiO 2 photoanode without a nanopattern exhibited a reflectance that was o20% in the visible range.…”

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] In this context, patterned photoanodes in solar cells have been studied as a line structure, 11 a 3D micro-pyramid, 12 an embedded micro-line, 13 and moth-eye structures 14 in an effort to improve light harvesting efficiency in photovoltaic devices. 2,3,15 In addition, the photonic crystal 7,16,17 and plasmonic nanostructures 18,19 have been explored intensively.…”

Development of Macro-Porous Silicon Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Improved Light Trapping

“…That cell showed higher photocurrent using larger surface area of the patterned FTO which allows more involvement of TiO 2 particles and dyes. In 2013, Wooh et al demonstrated a light-trapping strategy in DSCs with textured and 3D photoanodes made from TiO 2 nanoparticles [22]. The novel structure showed higher light absorbance and hence higher photocurrent in comparison with the ordinary 2D flat photoanode.…”

Multidirectional Light‐Harvesting Enhancement in Dye Solar Cells by Surface Patterning

“…Initially reported results prove the potential of this approach to largely increase the light harvesting effi ciency without adding any extra layer to the cell. [17][18][19][20] Besides, these results indicate that it should be possible to improve effi ciency while preserving the multidirectional operation of the cell (i.e., under front and rear illumination conditions), as the nanostructured surface of a transparent material behave as diffracting interface and, hence, as potential absorption enhancer at any angle of incidence of light on its surface.In this work, we demonstrate that surface relief patterns can be used as multidirectional enhancers of the effi ciency of DSC. We used a combination of soft-lithography and micro-stamping One dimensional gratings patterned on the surface of nanocrystalline titania electrodes are used as a light harvesting strategy to improve the overall performance of dye solar cells under both frontal and rear illumination conditions.…”

“…Initially reported results prove the potential of this approach to largely increase the light harvesting effi ciency without adding any extra layer to the cell. [17][18][19][20] Besides, these results indicate that it should be possible to improve effi ciency while preserving the multidirectional operation of the cell (i.e., under front and rear illumination conditions), as the nanostructured surface of a transparent material behave as diffracting interface and, hence, as potential absorption enhancer at any angle of incidence of light on its surface.…”