Double-layered TiO2 cavity/nanoparticle photoelectrodes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells
Zhen Li1,2, Libo Yu1,2()
1. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hexi University, Zhangye 734000, China 2. Key Laboratory of Hexi Corridor Resources Utilization of Gansu, Hexi University, Zhangye 734000, China
TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) in the size of ~25 nm, namely P25, are very common material as the electron collecting layer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). However, the light-scattering improvement of TiO2 NP photoelectrodes is still a challenge. Here, we built TiO2 cavities on the top of the TiO2 NP layer by using carbonaceous microspheres as the template, forming the TiO2 cavity/nanoparticle (C/NP) photoelectrode for the application in DSSCs. The cavity amount in the TiO2 C/NP photoelectrode was controlled by adjusting the weight ratio of carbonaceous microspheres. SEM results confirm the successful formation of the double-layered TiO2 C/NP electrode. J‒V tests show that the optimized TiO2 C/NP electrode prepared with 25 wt.% carbonaceous microspheres contributes to remarkable improvement of the short-circuit current density (Jsc) and the power conversion efficiency (PCE). The best photovoltaic performance solar cell with the PCE of 9.08% is achieved with the optimized TiO2 C/NP photoelectrode, which is over 98% higher than that of the TiO2 NP photoelectrode. Further investigations of UV-vis DRS, IPCE, OCVD, and EIS demonstrate that the competition between light scattering effect and charges recombination in this TiO2 C/NP photoelectrode is responsible for the PCE enhancement.
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