Application of Pt sputter-deposited counter electrodes based on micro-patterned ITO glass to quasi-solid state dye-sensitized solar cells

The effects of the Pt catalyst sputter deposited on the patterned ITO glass (SD-Pt/pITO) on the photovoltaic properties and charge-transfer characteristics at the Pt/electrolyte interface of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are studied and compared with those of a conventional Pt counter electrode deposited by thermal reduction on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass (TD-Pt/FTO). The DSSC with the SD-Pt/pITO (sample cell) shows a lower charge-transfer resistance than that of the DSSC with the TD-Pt/FTO (reference cell), which leads to an improvement of its fill factor by about 7.6%. The long-term durability test performed for 1000 h at room temperature reveals that the sample cell retains up to 99% of its energy conversion efficiency, while that of the reference cell is degraded by about 7.2%.     

Low resistance dye-sensitized solar cells based on all-titanium substrates using wires and sheets

Low resistance dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on all-titanium substrates were proposed in this paper. To minimize the internal resistance of DSSCs, the titanium wires and titanium sheets were used as the substrates of the photoanode and the counter electrode, respectively. Compared with the FTO substrate, titanium wires could absorb much diffused light by back reflection since the reflectivity in the titanium sheet was highly increased up to 53.12%. Furthermore, the transmittance of the front cover was increased by 13.2% using the super white glass instead of FTO substrate. The thickness of TiO₂ thin film coated on titanium wire was optimized to achieve a high cell performance. The efficiency of 5.6% for the cell was obtained with a J_sc of 15.41 mA cm⁻², V_oc of 0.59 V, and FF of 0.62. The results showed that the titanium-based DSSCs had superiority for producing the large-scale DSSCs without metal grid line.     

Flexible TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanotube-based dye-sensitized solar cells using laser-drilled microhole array electrodes

Here we report on the growth of TiO₂ nanotube arrays (TNAs) on Ti foil with laser-drilled microhole arrays (MHAs). The MHAs promoted the adhesion of the TNA film to Ti substrate, which is well suited for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The MHA photoanode and TNAs were characterized by SEM, 3D optical profiling, XRD and TEM. For such a flexible MHA photoanode, the TNA-based DSSC was assembled using a platinized conductive glass counter electrode, and a conversion efficiency of 3.45% was achieved under AM 1.5 condition. A flexible TNA-based DSSC was also fabricated using a flexible MHA photoanode combined with a platinized indium tin oxide-polyethylene naphthalate counter electrode, which achieved 2.67% photovoltaic conversion efficiency under simulated AM 1.5 sunlight.     

Dye-sensitized solar cells based on different nano-oxides on plastic PET substrate

Polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) foils and glass slides coated with thin conductive layers were used as substrates for TiO2 or ZnO based photoactive electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) with organo-metallic Ru-dye, standard iodine electrolyte and Pt coated FTO/glass counterelectrode (CE). Different compositions of nanoparticle oxides in forms of alcohol pastes as well as the CE paste were applied onto the substrates by screen printing or by doctor blade techniques. Photocurrents and I–V loading characteristics were measured depending on the solar cell structure and preparation, including the oxide composition, electrode conductivity and the dye type. The influence of thin TiO2 blocking layer prepared by sol–gel technique is also discussed.     

Low platinum loading PtNPs/graphene composite catalyst with high electrocatalytic activity for dye-sensitized solar cells

Platinum nanoparticles(PtNPs)/graphene composite materials are synthesized by a controlled chemical reduction of H2PtCl6 on graphene sheets.The electrocatalytic activity of a PtNPs/graphene composite counter electrode for a dye-sensitized solar cell(DSSC) is investigated.The results demonstrate that the PtNPs/graphene composite has high electrocatalytic activity for the dye-sensitized solar cell.The cell employing PtNPs(1.6 wt%)/graphene counter electrode reaches an conversion efficiency(η)of 3.89% upon the excitation of 100 mW/cm2 AM 1.5 white light,which is comparable to that of the cell with a Pt-film counter electrode(η=3.76%).It suggests that one can use only 14% Pt content of the conventional Pt-film counter electrode to obtain a comparable conversion efficiency.It may be possible to obtain a high performance DSSC using the PtNPs/graphene composite with a very low Pt content as a counter electrode due to its simplicity,low cost,and large scalability.     

Zinc oxide nanostructures for applications as ethanol sensors and dye-sensitized solar cells

ZnO nanostructures were prepared by thermal oxidation technique for applying as ethanol sensors and dye-sensitized solar cells. To improve sensitivity of the sensor based on ZnO nanostructures, gold doping was performed in ZnO nanostructures. Gold-doped with 0%, 5%, and 10% by weight were investigated. The improvement of sensor sensitivity toward ethanol due to gold doping was observed at entire operating temperature and ethanol concentration. The sensitivity up to 145 was obtained for 10% Au-doped ZnO sensor. This can be explained by an increase of the quantity of oxygen ion due to catalytic effect of gold. Also, it was found that oxygen ion species at the surface of the Au-doped ZnO sensor remained O²⁻ as pure ZnO sensor. For dye-sensitized solar cell application, the dye-sensitized solar cell structure based on ZnO as a photoelectrode was FTO/ZnO/Eosin-Y/electrolyte/Pt counter electrode. ZnO with different morphologies of nanobelt, nano-tetrapod, and powder were investigated. It was found that DSSCs with ZnO powder showed higher photocurrent, photovoltage and overall energy conversion efficiencies than that of ZnO nanobelt and ZnO nano-tetrapod. The best results of DSSCs were the short circuit current (J_sc) of 1.25 mA/cm², the open circuit voltage (V_oc) of 0.45 V, the fill factor (FF) of 0.65 and the overall energy conversion efficiency (η) of 0.68%.     

Electron transport in dye-sensitized solar cells based on TiO2 nanowires

Anatase titanium dioxide nanowire arrays were prepared by hydrothermally oxidizing titanium foils in aqueous alkali and transferred onto fluorinated tin oxide(FTO)glass for use as the photoanodes of front side illuminated dye-sensitized solar cells(DSCs).Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)measurement was applied to compare the electron transport and recombination properties of DSCs using TiO2nanowire films and TiO2nanoparticle films as photoanodes.It was found that the nanowire array films possess smaller electron transport resistance(Rt)and larger electron diffusion length(Le)in the photoanodes,suggesting that the nanowire arrays can enhance the electron transport rate and have a potential to improve the charge collection efficiency of DSCs.     

Ultrasonic irradiation preparation of graphitic-C3N4/polyaniline nanocomposites as counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

In this research, polyaniline/graphitic carbon nitride (PANI/g-C₃N₄) nanocomposites were synthesized via in-situ electrochemical polymerization of aniline monomer whit different number of cyclic voltammetry scans (10, 20 and 30 cycles) after electrode surface pre-preparation using a potential shock under ultrasonic irradiation. PANI/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposites with two values of g-C₃N₄ (0.010 wt% and 0.015 wt%) were deposited on the surface of the transparent conducting film (FTO glass) by immersing FTO into the aniline solution and g-C₃N₄ during the electro-polymerization. The resulting PANI/g-C₃N₄ films were characterized by Fourier transformed infra-red (FTIR), power X-ray diffraction (PXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The prepared electrodes were applied as counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells. Among them, the prepared electrode with 10 cycles and 0.01 wt% g-C₃N₄ showed the best efficiency. These hybrids show good catalytic activity in elevating tri-iodide reduction and due to the synergistic effect of PANI and g-C₃N₄, PANI/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite electrode shows power conversion efficiency about 1.8%.     

Modification and photovoltaic properties of reduced graphene oxide/acetylene black composite electrode

A simple and high efficient reduced graphene oxide/acetylene black (rGO/ACET) nano-composite electrode was prepared as the substitute of high-cost Pt counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Surface-modified method called solvent-substituting (SS) was firstly used to avoid agglomeration of rGO sheets. The Brunner-Emmet-Teller (BET)-specific surface area of rGO was increased from 195.823 to 355.210 m²/g after modifying with ethanol. Then ACET particles were introduced between rGO layers to improve the electronic transportation properties. The chemical compositions, microstructures, and pore size distributions of rGO/ACET composites were investigated. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) indicated that rGO/ACET counter electrode had a lower charge transfer resistance (R_ct) and its S-shaped current–voltage curves disappeared obviously. The highest power conversion efficiency up to 6.62% was achieved for the DSSCs with rGO/ACET nano-composite counter electrode.     

Photovoltaic and impedance properties of dye-sensitized solar cell based on nature dye from beetroot

The present study involves fabrication and photovoltaic characterization including impedance properties of dye-sensitized solar cells based on natural dye from beetroot. The electrode of the cell was prepared with commercial Fluorine-doped Tin Oxide glass with 100 μm layer of nanostructured TiO₂ whereas, the counter electrode consisted of platinum-coated glass. Fresh juice was extracted from beetroot to use as dye. The dye exhibited high absorption in visible range. Photovoltaic measurements of the solar cell gave a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 130 μA/cm² and an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.38 V under AM 1.5 illumination intensity. The VOC and Jsc showed linear behavior at higher values of illumination intensities. The conductance-voltage, the capacitance-voltage and the series resistance voltage characteristics of the dye solar cell was measured at frequency range from 5 kHz to 5 MHz to study performance of the dye-sensitized solar cells with natural dyes.     

Graphene/carbon nanotubes composites as a counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

As an alternative platinum counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), carbon materials based counter electrode were prepared using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)/graphene nano-sheets (GNS) composite by simple doctor blade method. We found that the photovoltaic performance was strongly influenced by the concentration of GNS in composite electrode. The composite electrode with 60% MWNTs and 40% GNS based DSSCs showed the maximum power conversion efficiency of 4.0% while sputter deposited platinum counter electrode based DSSCs showed a power conversion efficiency of 5.0%.     

Effects of controlled surface treatment on titanium dioxide electrode nanostructure for dye-sensitized solar cells

A stable surface treatment for the nanoporous TiO₂ electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) has been developed via sol-gel processing of titanium(IV) isopropoxide (TiP), enabling controllable performance improvements, which has been hitherto unachievable. A systematic study of the electrode chemistry and morphology was performed to examine the mechanisms by which the treatment contributes to enhancement in DSC performance. The electrode exhibited a linear increase in mass with TiP concentration and a corresponding reduction in porosity. The increase in nanoparticle diameter resulted in the increase in surface area without altering the surface chemistry, leading to an increase in dye loading. Current–voltage characteristics and incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiencies (IPCE) were analyzed. A linear increase in the short-circuit photocurrent was measured with TiP concentration, increasing by 30 % for a 4 mM TiP treatment, which resulted in a corresponding efficiency gain of 23 %. This was found to primarily result from a controllable increase in the charge collection efficiency, via a 30 % faster electron transport time and a 19 % increase in the electron lifetime. The results elucidate the underlying physical mechanisms for improvement in DSC performance by surface treatment.     

染料敏化纳米薄膜太阳电池实验研究

染料敏化纳米薄膜太阳电池（DSCs）的性能主要是由纳米多孔TiO２₂薄膜、染 料光敏化剂 、电解质、反电极（光阴极）等几个主要部分决定的.通过优化DSCs各项关键技术和材料的 性能，并通过小面积DSCs的系列实验和优化组合实验来检测各项参数对DSCs性能的影响，获 得在光照1个太阳（AM15）下，光电转换效率达到895%.这为进行产业化制备大面积DSCs 打下了良好基础. 关键词： 染料敏化 太阳电池 优化 效率     

Effects of hydrogen plasma treatment on SnO2:F substrates for amorphous Si thin film solar cells

We investigated the effects of hydrogen plasma treatment on the physical and electrical properties of fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) films used for amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin film solar cells. A slight increase in carrier concentration by the hydrogen doping effect was observed for the FTO film exposed to the hydrogen plasma for 5 min. For further exposure to the plasma, the chemical reduction became prominent and resulted in deterioration of the electrical and optical properties of the film. XPS analysis revealed that the chemical reduction of SnO₂ to Sn metallic state occurs on the surface region. It was found that the defects formed by hydrogen plasma act as recombination centers at the interface between FTO electrode and p-layer of a-Si solar cells. This phenomenon resulted in the deterioration of the cell performance. The averaged conversion efficiency (6.82%) of the cells on pristine FTO hydrogen substrate was decreased to 5.81% for the cells on FTO treated for 5 min, which is mainly attributed to the decrease in short-circuit current density.     

有机无机杂化固态太阳能电池的研究进展

近年来, 由于钙钛矿材料优良的光学吸收和电荷传导特性, 有机无机杂化固态太阳能电池取得了突破性的进展. 自2009年首次报道了光电转换效率为3.8%的钙钛矿太阳能电池以来, 该类电池的效率不断突破. 基于介孔薄膜的电池已取得了超过16.7%的认证光电转换效率, 基于平板异质结结构电池光电转换效率达到19.3%, 已接近传统硅基太阳能电池的光电转换效率. 本文将介绍有机无机杂化钙钛矿作为光电材料的光学物理结构特性, 以及在固态太阳能电池中的应用. 基于固态钙钛矿太阳能电池结构上的差异, 分别介绍其在多孔结构、平板异质结结构、柔性结构以及无空穴传导材料结构电池工作特性和各自优势, 以及影响电池特性的主要影响因素, 特别是钙钛矿成膜控制等. 并阐述对钙钛矿电池的理解和进一步提高固态钙钛矿电池光电转换效率需要关注的重点以及展望.     

三维多孔复合碳层对电极的制备及其光伏性能研究

基于TiO_2光阳极、Pt对电极的染料敏化太阳能电池(DSSC)因其优异的光电转换特性受到了广泛的关注,然而Pt昂贵的价格制约了其发展与应用.针对这一问题,本文设计、制备了一种由相对致密且高导电的石墨膜(PC层,底层)及多孔碳纳米颗粒膜(CC层,顶层)构成的低成本、高性能三维多孔复合碳层对电极.基于该CC/PC对电极的DSSC具有优异的光伏性能:在1.5标准太阳光照射下,其填充因子高达65.28%(较Pt对电极高4.1%)、光电转换效率高达5.9%(为Pt对电极的94.2%). CC/PC对电极的优异光伏性能主要归因于其独特的三维多孔导电结构,该结构有极高的比表面积和丰富的催化反应活性位,有利于电子的快速传输及离子的快速转移,在这些因素的协同作用下,其光电转换性能大大改善.     

丝网印刷制备染料敏化太阳能电池

染料敏化太阳能电池（DSSC）是太阳能电池研究的热点领域之一,使用丝网印刷技术制备以纳米晶多孔TiO₂薄膜为光阳极的DSSC具有低成本、简单的制备工艺和高的光电转换效率（PCE）的特点,这类太阳能电池受到人们广泛关注。为了提高这类太阳能电池的光电转换效率,通过采用不同网目相同印刷胶体制备了太阳能电池的光阳极优化印刷工艺十分重要,采用不同网目的方法研究印刷工艺对太阳能电池光伏性能的影响是十分有效的。用溶胶-凝胶法制备了TiO₂胶体,通过扫描电镜看出TiO₂薄膜具有多孔结构,其高比表面积有利于薄膜对染料分子的吸附,也有利于提高电池对太阳光的吸收率。经过高温烧结后丝网印刷的TiO₂薄膜展现了明显的锐钛矿结构较窄衍射峰,意味着TiO₂颗粒已经完全晶化且粒径增加。制备目数从100增到300导致网孔直径减少而薄膜变得更加致密,使得TiO₂薄膜的XRD衍射峰逐渐增强,而从300目增到400目时由于网孔过小导致TiO₂胶体通过网孔数量变小使得衍射峰强度下降。用不同网目印刷了单层TiO₂光阳极研究DSSCs光伏性能的变化情况,发现制备目数是200目和300目印刷太阳能电池的性能较好,而400网目印刷太阳能电池的性能最差,这与XRD观察的结果一致。再分别采用网目为100目、200目、300目和400目的印网将胶体印刷成了多层TiO₂薄膜,以此为基础组装DSSC。实验结果表明：通过不同组合网目的丝网印刷制备TiO₂薄膜,组装后的染料敏化太阳能电池的光电转换效率得到了显著提升,其中以300目+200目+100目三层叠印时得到的优化光阳极的最高电池效率达到6.9%。以丝网印刷的方法制备电极不需要进行任何化学处理,在较高网目制备底层的情况下印刷的薄膜均匀牢固,且电池制备的步骤简单、重复性好,能量转换效率较高。     

Natural dye-based photoelectrode for improvement of solar cell performance

In the present paper, photovoltaic studies of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on betacyanin/TiO₂ and betacyanin/WO₃–TiO₂ have been done. The cell performances were compared through I–V curves and wavelength dependant photocurrent measurements for the two new types of DSSCs. The TiO₂-coated DSSC showed the photovoltage and photocurrent of 300 mV and 4.96 mA/cm², whereas the cell employing WO₃–TiO₂ photoelectrode showed the values 435 mV and 9.86 mA/cm², respectively. The conversion efficiency of TiO₂ based dye-sensitized solar cell was found to be 0.69 %, while WO₃–TiO₂-based cell exhibited a higher conversion efficiency of 2.2 %. The better performance of the WO₃–TiO₂ dye-sensitized solar cell photoelectrode is thought to be due to an inherent energy barrier at the electrode/electrolyte interface leading to the reduced recombination of photoinduced electrons.     

Improved catalytic activity of Pt/rGO counter electrode in In2O3-based DSSC

A platinum/reduced graphene oxide (Pt/rGO) nanocomposite acting as a counter electrode (CE) was fabricated using a chemical bath deposition method for In₂O₃-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) via sol-gel technique. The report analyzes the morphological and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of the annealing Pt/rGO films at 350, 400, and 450 °C. Micrograph images obtained from field emission scanning electron microscopy demonstrated the annealed films are highly porous. The energy-dispersive X-ray results show that the carbon atoms were homogeneously distributed on the film annealed at 400 °C. A good photovoltaic performance was exhibited with high photocurrent density of 8.1 mA cm⁻² and power conversion efficiency (η) of 1.68 % at the Pt/rGO CE annealed at 400 °C. The employed electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis quantifies that the Pt/rGO films annealed at 400 °C provide more efficient charge transfer with the lowest effective recombination rate and high electron life time, hence improving the performance of Pt/rGO CE.

     

Application of polyaniline nanowires electrodeposited on the FTO glass substrate as a counter electrode for low-cost dye-sensitized solar cells

Polyaniline nanowires (PANI NWs) were deposited onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate using the cyclic voltammetric method with aniline monomer precursor in HCl aqueous solution. The secondary oxidation peak plays an important role in polymerization of aniline monomer and the optimization of catalytic activity of PANI-based counter electrodes was achieved by controlling the number of cycles. The photovoltaic performance of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with PANI NWs counter electrodes (CEs) was optimized at 4th cycles, and then following parameters were obtained: J_sc = 17.2 mA cm⁻², V_oc = 0.71 V, FF = 59.3%, and efficiency (η) = 7.24%. While, J_sc = 14.7 mA cm⁻², V_oc = 0.77 V, FF = 70.6%, and efficiency (η) = 7.98% in cells with Pt CEs. The PANI NWs were attractive as an alternative CEs for the low-cost DSSCs instead of Pt.