Mesophase Ordering of TiO₂ Film with High Surface Area and Strong Light Harvesting for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Abstract

Mesophase ordering and structuring are carried out to attain optimized pore morphology, high crystallinity, stable porous framework, and crack-free mesoporous titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) films. The pore structure (quasi-hexagonal and lamellar) can be controlled via the concentration of copolymer, resulting in two different types of micellar packing. The calcination temperature is also controlled to ensure a well-crystalline and stable porous framework. Finally, the synthesized mesoporous TiO(2) film is modified by adding P25 nanoparticles, which act as scattering centers and function as active binders to prevent formation of microcracks. Adding P25 nanoparticles into mesoporous structure helps to provide strong light-harvesting capability and large surface area for high -efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The short-circuit photocurrent density (J(sc)) of the cell made from mixture of mesoporous TiO(2) and P25 nanoparticles displays a higher efficiency of approximately 6.5% compared to the other homogeneous films. A combination of factors such as increased surface area, introduction of light-scattering particles, and high crystallinity of the mesoporous films leads to enhanced cell performance.

Porous nanostructured metal oxides synthesized through atomic layer deposition on a carbonaceous template followed by calcination

“…1, SEM images show that all samples still exhibit a forest-like structure at the micro-scale upon calcination. The thicknesses of Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 and VO x coated CNTs forests films are similar to the original thickness of the as-grown MWCNTs (~6.5 µm), but there is a noticeable shrinkage of the ZnO film (~4.7µm). With the exception of the minor changes in their thicknesses, there is no remarkable collapse observed in these films.…”

Pengaruh Konsentrasi Ruthenium (N719) sebagai Fotosensitizer dalam Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) Transparan

“…Ketebalan lapisan yang terkontrol memungkinkan untuk mendapatkan lapisan dengan pengulangan yang konsisten. Untuk mendapatkan DSSC dengan efisiensi tinggi, ketebalan lapisan pada elektroda foto-anoda TiO 2 yang optimum karena ketebalan lapisan ini mempengaruhi proses penyerapan cahaya [9].…”

Facile method for synthesis of TiO2 film and its application in high efficiency dye sensitized-solar cell (DSSC)

“…It is seen that for TiO2 with precursor volume of more than 7 mL, the Voc-is around 0.7 V. However, the current density of the short-circuit (Jsc) is showing different trend, where in TiO2 -DSSC with 7 mL volume precursor shows the maximum result as 4.61 mA/cm 2 . Since the produced film using 7 mL precursor has optimum thickness, then it is expected that it will also havean optimum light absorption [6]. In general, the increase in precursor volume will directly increase the thickness of the film linearly.…”

“…In general, the increase in precursor volume will directly increase the thickness of the film linearly. It is also affecting the quality of the film, for example due to the existence of micro-crack which decrease adhesion characteristic of the film on the FTO substrate [6]. Hence, it is clearly seen that by increasing the precursor volume above 7 mL, the current density Jsc will decrease.…”

“…A controlled film thickness allows repeating the production to obtain the films with the high consistency. A high efficiency of DSSC required the optimum thickness of film in photo-anode TiO2, since it was affecting light absorption process [6]. In this paper, we study the optimum condition for TiO2 film coating.…”