Photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cell low temperature growth of ZnO nanorods using chemical bath deposition

Nanostructured ZnO photoelectrodes were synthesized on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates that were spin-coated with a sol-gel based ZnO seed layer via a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method at varying times of 1, 2, 4, and 8 h. Then, TiO2 nanoparticulate electrodes were prepared on ZnO nanorods using the doctor blade technique. The uniformly grown ZnO nanorod layer had a length of approximately 710 nm on the FTO glass substrate with wurtzite structures which was confirmed through X-ray diffraction patterns. The length and diameter of the ZnO nanorods increased with an increase in the deposition time. The DSSCs fabricated with TiO2 nanoparticulate/grown ZnO nanorods and grown for 8 h showed the maximum efficiency (5.51%) with a short circuit current density (J(sc)) of 12.21 mA/cm2 and an open circuit voltage (V(oc)) of 0.70 at 100 mW/cm2 light intensity.     

Mesoporous inverse opal TiO2 film as light scattering layer for dye-sensitized solar cell

The light harvesting efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells was enhanced by using a scattering layer. Such as sphere type TiO2, inverse photonic crystal TiO2, hollow spherical TiO2. Among these materials, the TiO2 with inverse photonic crystal (IPC) structure, synthesized by self-assembly using spherical templates, has attracted much attention due to their photonic crystal characteristics and light scattering effects. However, when applied in the DSSCs, the surface area of IPC is very low that caused insufficient adsorption amount of dye molecules. In the present work, a scattering layer with mesoporous inverse photonic crystal (MIPC) TiO2 film was fabricated by the sol-gel reactions with surfactant-assisted sol-gel method using poly(methyl methacrylate) as the template and titanium (IV) isopropoxide as the TiO2 precursor. After removing the PMMA and surfactant, a highly ordered macroporous structure with mesopores were successfully obtained. The surface area and total pore volume of the MIPC were 82 m2/g and 0.31 cm3/g, respectively, which is much larger than those of the IPC. The DSSCs with the scattering layer of MIPC film exhibited 18 and 10% higher photo-conversion efficiency than those of cells only with a nano-crystalline TiO2 film and with scattering layer of IPC film. From UV-visible spectra of dye solutions, the MIPC film showed a higher amount of absorbed dye molecules than those of the reference and IPC films. Accordingly, an increase in the photo-current density through abundant adsorption of the dye, coupled with inherent light scattering ability can improve overall photo-conversion efficiency.     

Enhancement of photovoltaic performance in dye-sensitized solar cells with the spin-coated TiO2 blocking layer

The TiO2 thin film layers were introduced with the spin-coating method between FTO electrode and TiO2 photoanode in dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) to prevent electron back migration from the FTO electrode to electrolyte. The DSSC containg different thickness of TiO2 thin film (10-30, 40-60 and 120-150 nm) were prepared and photovoltaic performances were analysed with /-Vcurves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The maximum cell performance was observed in DSSC with 10-30 nm of TiO2 thin film thickness (11.92 mA/cm2, 0.74 V, 64%, and 5.62%) to compare with that of pristine DSSC (11.09 mA/cm2, 0.65 V, 62%, and 4.43%). The variation of photoelectric conversion efficiency of the DSSCs with different TiO2 thin film thickness was discussed with the analysis of crystallographic and microstructural properties of TiO2 thin films.     

Fabrication and characterization of photoelectrode thin films with different morphologies of TiO2 nanoparticles for dye-sensitized solar cells

This study deals with the fabrication of three different morphologies of TiO2 nanoparticles to fabricate two-layer photoelectrode thin film for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The four different TiO2 morphologies are titania nanotubes (Tnt), TiO2 nanoparticles (H220), TiO2 nanoparticle (SP) and commercial DP-25 nanoparticles (P-25). To prepare the thin films of the photoelectrodes, the first layer is coated by H220 TiO2 nanoparticles, and the second is coated by 3 kinds of materials optimally proportionally mixed - P25, SP and Tnt. The photoelectric conversion efficiency of DSSCs with photoelectrodes fabricated using H220 reached 6.31%. Finally, the TiO2 nanaomaterials with four different morphologies were used to prepare a two layer photoelectrode with the structure of H220/P25-Tnt-SP which was combined with a Pt counter electrode to assemble DSSCs. These DSSCs had photoelectric conversion efficiencies of as high as 7.47%.     

柱状晶形貌TiO2膜厚对FTO/TiO2镀膜玻璃光催化活性影响

采用溶胶凝胶法,在FTO(SnO2:F)低辐射镀膜玻璃衬底上制备了柱状晶体结构的TiO2薄膜,获得双层结构FTO/TiO2镀膜玻璃样品.研究了TiO2薄膜厚度对FTO/TiO2镀膜玻璃样品的光催化活性、低辐射性能以及透光性能的影响.结果表明,FTO/TiO2镀膜玻璃样品光催化活性随着TiO2薄膜厚度的增加先升高后下降,在TiO2薄膜厚度为300 nm时光催化活性最佳;低辐射性能随着TiO2薄膜厚度的增加而下降,但TiO2薄膜厚度为300 nm时仍然具备一定的低辐射性能;透光性能与TiO2薄膜膜厚的关系不大,可见光透射比保持在72%左右;表面平均粗糙度约为1 nm,表面光滑,不易沾染油污灰尘.该镀膜玻璃在保证低辐射建筑节能和透光的前提下,兼具光催化自清洁功能,具有很好的应用前景.     

TiO2 paste formulation for crack-free mesoporous nanocrystalline film of dye-sensitized solar cells

Using a doctor-blade method, a highly viscous titanium dioxide (TiO2) paste was deposited on a glass substrate coated with fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO). The paste was mainly composed of commercially available TiO2 nanoparticles (P25) and hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) as organic filler. Varying the content of HPC in the TiO2 paste changed the physical properties of the mesoporous TiO2 layer, particularly its porosity and surface area. From the quantification of dyes on Ti2, layer and the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) study of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the surface area of the TiO2 film was found to have decreased. This came with the increase of HPC content while the porosity of the film increased, consistent with the concurrent decrease of short-circuit current density (Jsc) and efficiency (eta). The increased porosity greatly affected the electron transport through the TiO2 film by decreasing the coordination number of the TiO2 particles resulting to a decrease of the electron diffusion coefficient.     

Electrospinning processed nanofibrous TiO(2) membranes for photovoltaic applications

We have recently fabricated dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) comprising nanofibrous TiO(2) membranes as electrode materials. A thin TiO(2) film was pre-deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated conducting glass substrate by immersion in TiF(4) aqueous solution to reduce the electron back-transfer from FTO to the electrolyte. The composite polyvinyl acetate (PVac)/titania nanofibrous membranes can be deposited on the pre-deposited thin TiO(2) film coated FTO by electrospinning of a mixture of PVac and titanium isopropoxide in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). The nanofibrous TiO(2) membranes were obtained by calcining the electrospun composite nanofibres of PVac/titania as the precursor. Spectral sensitization of the nanofibrous TiO(2) membranes was carried out with a ruthenium (II) complex, cis-dithiocyanate-N,N(')-bis(2,2(')-bipyridyl-4,4(')-dicarboxylic acid) ruthenium (II) dihydrate. The results indicated that the photocurrent and conversion efficiency of electrodes can be increased with the addition of the pre-deposited TiO(2) film and the adhesion treatment using DMF. Additionally, the dye loading, photocurrent, and efficiency of the electrodes were gradually increased by increasing the average thickness of the nanofibrous TiO(2) membranes. The efficiency of the fibrous TiO(2) photoelectrode with the average membrane thickness of 3.9?μm has a maximum value of 4.14%.     

Copper oxide thin film and nanowire as a barrier in ZnO dye-sensitized solar cells

The ZnO dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with different photoelectrodes were studied on the effect of CuO layer as a barrier layer toward power conversion characteristics. The structures of DSSCs based on ZnO as a photoelectrode, Eosin-Y as a dye sensitizer, iodine/iodide solution as an electrolyte and Pt/FTO as a counterelectrode. CuO powder, nanowire prepared by oxidation reaction of copper powder and CuO thin film prepared by evaporation copper thin film, were used as a layer on the top of ZnO layer to form blocking layer. The photocurrent, photovoltage and power conversion efficiency characteristics for DSSCs were measured under illumination of simulated sunlight obtained from a solar simulator with the radiant power of 100 mW/cm². It was found that ZnO DSSCs with CuO thin film exhibited highest current density of 5.10 mA/cm² and highest power conversion efficiency of 0.92% than those of CuO powder and nanowire. The enhancement of the power conversion efficiency can be explained in terms of the retardation of the interfacial recombination dynamics of CuO blocking layer.     

Properties of dye-sensitized solar cells with TiO2 passivating layers prepared by electron-beam evaporation

The aim of this work is to prevent back transfer of electrons due to direct contact between the electrolyte and the FTO glass substrate using a TiO2 passivating layer. The TiO2 passivating layer was deposited on FTO glass by e-beam evaporation. The TiO2 film was prepared with different deposition rates. The specific surface area was reduced with increasing deposition rate. The nanoporous TiO2 upper layer was coated by screen-printing on the TiO2 passivating layer prepared by e-beam evaporation. The optical transmittance and absorbance of the TiO2 films depend on the morphology of the TiO2 passivating layer. The dye-sensitized solar cells influenced the surface morphology of the TiO2 passivating layer. The dye-sensitized solar cell using the TiO2 passivating layer recorded a maximum conversion efficiency of 4.93% due to effective prevention of the electron recombination to the electrolyte.     

TiO2纳米颗粒/纳米线复合光阳极的染料敏化太阳能电池

首先采用水热合成技术制备TiO2纳米线粉末,然后采用溶胶-凝胶技术制备钛酸丁酯溶胶,向溶胶中加入适量的TiO2纳米线制备凝胶浆体,采用浸渍提拉法在透明导电玻璃上制备TiO2纳米颗粒/TiO2纳米线复合薄膜的光阳极.通过XRD、SEM,电池的I-V特性和电化学阻抗谱测试,研究TiO2纳米线的添加量对光阳极的结构、形貌和电...     

离子束辅助沉积制备TiO_2-Nb_2O_5氧敏薄膜

采用离子束辅助沉积方法在Ａｌ２Ｏ３陶瓷衬底上制备了ＴｉＯ２Ｎｂ２Ｏ５氧敏薄膜。考察了薄膜组分比及退火温度对薄膜氧敏特性和结构的影响。电阻氧分压特性测试结果表明，纯Ｎｂ２Ｏ５薄膜的氧敏特性优于纯ＴｉＯ２薄膜；掺入少量的Ｔｉ可使Ｎｂ２Ｏ５薄膜的氧敏特性提高，以５ｍｏｌ％ＴｉＯ２掺杂的Ｎｂ２Ｏ５薄膜最佳；过量掺杂则使Ｎｂ２Ｏ５薄膜的氧敏特性明显变差。在５ｍｏｌ％ＴｉＯ２Ｎｂ２Ｏ５薄膜中再掺入少量的Ｐｔ（０３％０５％）可使其氧敏特性更好，而且其响应时间大大缩短。Ｘ射线衍射谱（ＸＲＤ）和Ｘ射线光电子谱（ＸＰＳ）分析表明，在退火后的ＴｉＯ２Ｎｂ２Ｏ５薄膜中Ｎｂ２Ｏ５为单斜（Ｍｆｏｒｍ）结晶相，而掺杂的Ｔｉ以非晶的ＴｉＯ２形式存在，即使在高达３４ｍｏｌ％ＴｉＯ２Ｎｂ２Ｏ５薄膜中也不例外。纯ＴｉＯ２膜为金红石结构。不同退火温度（９００１１０００Ｃ）对薄膜的氧敏特性和结构无明显影响。     

Influence of niobium doping in hierarchically organized titania nanostructure on performance of dye-sensitized solar cells

Niobium doped hierarchically organized TiO2 nanostructures composed of 20 nm size anatase nanocrystals were synthesized using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The Nb doping concentration could be facilely controlled by adjusting the concentration of Nb in target materials. We could investigate the influence of Nb doping in the TiO2 photoelectrode on the cell performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by the exclusion of morphological effects using the prepared Nb-doped TiO2 anostructures. We found no significant change in short circuit current density (Jsc) as a function of Nb doping concentration. However, open circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) monotonously decrease with increasing Nb concentration. Dark current characteristics of the DSSCs reveal that the decrease in Voc and FF is attributed to the decrease in shunt resistance due to the increase in conductivity TiO2 by Nb doping. However, electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) analysis at open circuit condition under illumination showed that the resistance at the TiO2/dye/electrolyte interface increases with Nb concentration, revealing that Nb doping suppress the charge recombination at the interface. In addition, electron life time obtained using characteristic frequency in Bode plot increases from 14 msec to 56 msec with increasing Nb concentration from 0 to 1.2 at%. This implies that the improved light harvesting can be achieved by increasing diffusion length through Nb-doping in the conventional TiO2 photoelectrode.     

Electrospray preparation of hierarchically-structured mesoporous TiO₂ spheres for use in highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

We report a simple method to prepare hierarchically structured TiO(2) spheres (HS-TiO(2)), using an electrostatic spray technique, that are utilized for photoelectrodes of highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). This method has an advantage to remove the synthesis steps in conventional sol-gel method to form nano-sized spheres of TiO(2) nanoclusters. The fine dispersion of commercially available nanocrystalline TiO(2) particles (P25, Degussa) in EtOH without surfactants and additives is electro-sprayed directly onto a fluorine-dopoed tin-oxide (FTO) substrate for DSSC photoelectrodes. The DSSCs of HS-TiO(2) photoelectrodes show high energy conversion efficiency over 10% under illumination of light at 100 mW cm(-2), AM1.5 global. It is concluded from frequency-dependent measurements that the faster electron diffusion coefficient and longer lifetime of HS-TiO(2) than those in nonstructured TiO(2) contribute to the enhanced efficiency in DSSCs.     

Electrical and structural characterization of plasma polymerized polyaniline/TiO2 heterostructure diode: a comparative study of single and bilayer TiO2 thin film electrode

A heterostructure was fabricated using p-type plasma polymerized polyaniline (PANI) and n-type (single and bilayer) titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin film on FTO glass. The deposition of single and bilayer TiO2 thin film on FTO substrate was achieved through doctor blade followed by dip coating technique before subjected to plasma enhanced polymerization. To fabricate p-n heterostructure, a plasma polymerization of aniline was conducted using RF plasma at 13.5 MHz and at the power of 120 W on the single and bilayer TiO2 thin film electrodes. The morphological, optical and the structural characterizations revealed the formation of p-n heterostructures between PANI and TiO2 thin film. The PANI/bilayer TiO2 heterostructure showed the improved current-voltage (I-V) characteristics due to the substantial deposition of PANI molecules into the bilayer TiO2 thin film which provided good conducting pathway and reduced the degree of excitons recombination. The change of linear I-V behavior of PANI/TiO2 heterostructure to non linear behavior with top Pt contact layer confirmed the formation of Schottky contact at the interfaces of Pt layer and PANI/TiO2 thin film layers.     

Highly active nanocrystalline TiO(2) photoelectrodes

A simple method for the fabrication of highly photoactive nanocrystalline two-layer TiO(2) electrodes for solar cell applications is presented. Diluted titanium acetylacetonate has been used as a precursor for covering SnO(2):F (FTO) films with dense packed TiO(2) nanocrystallites. The nanoporous thick TiO(2) film follows the dense packed thin TiO(2) film as a second layer. For the latter, amorphous TiO(2) nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by a sol-gel technique in an acidic environment with pH<1 and hydrothermal growth at a temperature of 200?°C. The acidic nanoparticle gel was neutralized by basic ammonia and a TiO(2) gel of pH?5 was obtained; this pH value is higher than the recently reported value of 3.1 (Park et al 2005 Adv. Mater. 17 2349-53). Highly interconnected, nanoporous, transparent and active TiO(2) films have been fabricated from the pH?5 gel. SEM, AFM and XRD analyses have been carried out for investigation of the crystal structure and the size of nanoparticles as well as the surface morphology of the films. Investigation of the photocurrent-voltage characteristics has shown improvement in cell performance along with the modification of the surface morphology, depending on pH of the TiO(2) gel. Increasing the pH of the gel from 2.1 to 5 enhanced the overall conversion efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cells by approximately 30%. An energy conversion efficiency of 8.83% has been achieved for the cell (AM1.5, 100 mWcm(-2) simulated sunlight) compared to 6.61% efficiency in the absence of ammonia in the TiO(2) gel.     

二钛酸钾纳米薄膜的原位合成及其性能研究

以Ti(n-OC4H9)4和CH3COOK为前驱体,采用溶胶-凝胶法在较低温度下原位合成了高光催化活性的K2Ti2O5纳米薄膜;采用TG-DSC,XRD,Raman光谱和AFM研究了K2Ti2O5薄膜的晶体生长过程;采用电化学方法测量了薄膜的光电响应.结果表明:原料在约259℃发生反应,在低于414℃的固态反应阶段生成K2Ti2O5晶核,在414℃～600℃的结晶阶段制得K2Ti2O5纳米薄膜,薄膜的颗粒表面非常平整,薄膜的晶粒是沿着一个晶面取向生长;薄膜均匀、致密、透明;在空气中紫外光照时,K2Ti2O5薄膜能很有效的降解OTS(C18H37SiCl3)单分子膜(SAMs),光催化活性比溶胶-凝胶法制备的TiO2薄膜高,光激发和光电响应能力也比TiO2薄膜强.     

Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange: influence of H2O2 in the TiO2-based system

The purpose of this study was to investigate the photocatalytic oxidation of a reactive azo dye. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 was studied using a reactor equipped with UV-A sources, with maximum emission at 365 nm. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 powder (99.9% anatase) and thin films has been measured through the decomposition of methyl orange solutions. The thin film was prepared by doctor blade and spray pyrolysis deposition (SPD). The TiO2 suspensions were prepared at 1 g/L concentration, and the initial methyl orange concentration was fixed at 7.8125 mg/L. The influence of the TiO2 (powder or thin films) and/or O2 and H2O2 on the photobleaching rate, was tested under different experiments, at pH = 5. Thin films (doctor blade) of TiO2 formed of mezo-sized aggregates formed of nanosized anatase crystallites show better photobleaching efficiency than thin film (SPD) due to their large internal surface. The rate is even higher in H2O2 compared to oxygen environment.     

丝网印刷法制备染料敏化太阳能电池光电性能的研究

采用水热法制备TiO2纳米颗粒,将获得的TiO2纳米颗粒制备成胶体,采用丝网印刷法在FTO表面刷涂制备染料敏化太阳能电池（DSSC）光阳极,通过扫描电子显微镜对电极表征和电池光电性能测试,探讨印刷层数及入射光强对DSSC光电性能的影响,实验结果表明,将制备的光阳极组装成电池后具有较好的光电性能,当印刷层数为8层、光强为80W／m2时,电池取得最好的光电性能。     

Enhanced electron transport in mesoporous TiO2 films modified by sol-gel necking for dye-sensitized solar cells

Mesoporous TiO2 films modified via sol-gel necking were fabricated by dispersing Ti tetra-isopropoxide (TTIP; 8 to 16 wt% over TiO2) with TiO2 nanoparticles in isopropyl alcohol. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with 13 wt% TTIP-modified TiO2 film exhibited significantly improved overall energy conversion efficiency, despite having less adsorbed dye when compared with DSSCs with untreated and TiCl4 post-treated TiO2 films. The improvement can be attributed to the sol-gel necking (or interconnection) between the nanoparticles which leads to a much faster electron transport and a suppression of the recombination (or back electron transfer) between the TiO2 and electrolyte.     

Dispersion characteristics of TiO2 particles coated with the SiO2 nano-film by atomic layer deposition

Deposition of SiO2 nanofilm on TiO2 particles using atomic layer deposition method is reported. The SiO2 film was prepared at the room temperature using the chemicals Si(OC2H5)4, C2H5N and H2O as precursor, catalyst and reactant gas, respectively. The thickness, composition and uniformity of the SiO2 coating on TiO2 surface were characterized by FESEM, HRTEM, EDS and XPS measurements. In HRTEM analysis, the growth rate was about 0.33 angstroms/cycle. EDS and XPS analysis showed the surface composition of TiO2 nanoparticles was silicon oxide. Zeta potential, particle size distribution and sedimentation test results indicated that dispersibility of coated nanoparticles was higher than that of uncoated nanoparticles because of the electrostatic repulsion between the SiO2-coated layers on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles. These results suggested that the SiO2 coating could modify the surface characteristics of the TiO2 nanoparticles and improve the dispersibility of the TiO2 primary nanoparticles.