On the relevance of mass transport in thin layer nanocrystalline photoelectrochemical solar cells

Papageorgiou, N.; Grätzel, Michaël; Infelta, Pierre P.

doi:10.1016/s0927-0248(96)00050-5

Cited by 163 publications

(167 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

158

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Penner et al (6) have studied the mass-transport properties of conical and hemispherical ultramicroelectrodes in electrochemical cells. Mass transport in nanocrystalline TiO 2 -based dyesensitized solar cells has also been treated theoretically (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). Of specific interest herein is the mass transport of redox species in the internal pore volume of highly microstructured electrodes, such as Si wire array photoelectrodes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For many types of photoelectrodes, forced convection produced by rapid stirring in a three-electrode configuration (20), or effective diffusive transport produced by use of a well-designed two-electrode thin-layer cell configuration (10,(21)(22)(23), have been utilized to minimize mass transport losses between the photoelectrode and the counter electrode (Scheme 1 A and B). However, these approaches do not effectively minimize losses due to restricted mass transport in the internal volume of microstructured photoelectrodes, such as Si wire arrays.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Evaluation and optimization of mass transport of redox species in silicon microwire-array photoelectrodes

Xiang

Meng

Lewis

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Physical integration of a Ag electrical contact internally into a metal/substrate/microstructured Si wire array/oxide/Ag/electrolyte photoelectrochemical solar cell has produced structures that display relatively low ohmic resistance losses, as well as highly efficient mass transport of redox species in the absence of forced convection. Even with front-side illumination, such wire-array based photoelectrochemical solar cells do not require a transparent conducting oxide top contact. In contact with a test electrolyte that contained 50 mM/5.0 mM of the cobaltocenium þ∕0 redox species in CH 3 CN-1.0 M LiClO 4 , when the counterelectrode was placed in the solution and separated from the photoelectrode, mass transport restrictions of redox species in the internal volume of the Si wire array photoelectrode produced low fill factors and limited the obtainable current densities to 17.6 mA cm −2 even under high illumination. In contrast, when the physically integrated internal Ag film served as the counter electrode, the redox couple species were regenerated inside the internal volume of the photoelectrode, especially in regions where depletion of the redox species due to mass transport limitations would have otherwise occurred. This behavior allowed the integrated assembly to operate as a twoterminal, stand-alone, photoelectrochemical solar cell. The current density vs. voltage behavior of the integrated photoelectrochemical solar cell produced short-circuit current densities in excess of 80 mA cm −2 at high light intensities, and resulted in relatively low losses due to concentration overpotentials at 1 Sun illumination. The integrated wire array-based device architecture also provides design guidance for tandem photoelectrochemical cells for solardriven water splitting.semiconductor/liquid junctions | Si microwire arrays | COMSOL Multiphysics T o yield optimal solar energy-conversion efficiencies, photoelectrochemical cells require highly effective mass transport of redox species between the photoelectrode and the counter electrode, as well as in the internal void volume of porous, microstructured photoelectrodes. Although the fundamental energyconversion properties of many semiconductor photoelectrodes are well-documented, the mass transport of reactants and products in highly structured electrochemical systems has received relatively little attention. Diffusion-limited mass transport during the electrochemical deposition of metals onto planar electrodes has been investigated by Scharifker and Hills (1) in the early 1980s, and has been further expanded upon in other studies (2-5). Penner et al. (6) have studied the mass-transport properties of conical and hemispherical ultramicroelectrodes in electrochemical cells. Mass transport in nanocrystalline TiO 2 -based dyesensitized solar cells has also been treated theoretically (7-12). Of specific interest herein is the mass transport of redox species in the internal pore volume of highly microstructured electrodes, such as Si wire array photoelectrodes.High aspect-ratio ...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation and optimization of mass transport of redox species in silicon microwire-array photoelectrodes

Xiang

Meng

Lewis

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…convection. This term is assumed very small and is left out on the grounds of the porosity of the electrodes and the small distance between them [3].…”

Section: 1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-Dimensional Time-Dependent Numerical Modeling of Edge Effects in Dye Solar Cells

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A two-dimensional transient model of dye solar cells (DSC) describing the electrochemical reactions in the cell has been prepared. The model includes the relevant components of DSCs: the photoelectrode, the electrolyte, and the counter electrode. The solved variables are potential and the concentrations of the dierent ion species, which can be used to determine e.g. the current-voltage characteristics of the cell. The largest benet of this model is its 2D features which enable the study of lateral inhomogeneity. Using the model, a new phenomenon was described: lateral current density distribution caused by a small dierence in the size between photoelectrode and counter electrode, typical to laboratory test cells, causes tri-iodide to move from the edge region to the active area of the cell. This process takes relatively long time (8 min) and can be important for performance characterization and design of DSCs.

show abstract

“…Furthermore, the effect of the illumination side on the photoelectrode has been proposed and discussed (19) . It is preferable to illuminate the cell from the counter electrode side (in this case, the photon absorption slope in Fig.…”

Section: Case IImentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study on Radiative Transfer in a TiO2 Photoelectrode for Improvement of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Performance

Sangklinhom

Yamada

2009

JTST

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nanoporous TiO 2 photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated from various sized TiO 2 particles and the electrical performance was investigated. We found that the cell that made from double-layered photoelectrode, the first layer composed of 21 nm TiO 2 particles, and the second layer composed of 7 nm TiO 2 particles, can give high performance nearly equal to well-establish cells that have the photoelectrode combined with a scattering layer. To clarify the effects of radiative transfer on cell performance, numerical simulation of the radiative transfer through TiO 2 photoelectrodes was carried out. The results revealed that while the light absorption within the photoelectrode is important for improvement of the cell performance, local light absorption within the photoelectrode is also essential. Higher light absorption in the deep photoelectrode region close to the electrolyte layer effectively improves the cell performance, because in this region the electron carriers can easily transfer the electrons from the counter electrode to the photoelectrode.

show abstract

On the relevance of mass transport in thin layer nanocrystalline photoelectrochemical solar cells

Cited by 163 publications

References 5 publications

Evaluation and optimization of mass transport of redox species in silicon microwire-array photoelectrodes

Evaluation and optimization of mass transport of redox species in silicon microwire-array photoelectrodes

Two-Dimensional Time-Dependent Numerical Modeling of Edge Effects in Dye Solar Cells

A Study on Radiative Transfer in a TiO2 Photoelectrode for Improvement of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Performance

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About