Ag-doped TiO2 as photoanode for high performance dye sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are commonly used as photoanode materials in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The structure of TiO2 can be modified by doping to enhance its optical and electrical performance. The modification carried out in this research was by providing Ag doping on TiO2. Silver (Ag) added to TiO2 is convinced to reduce the recombination and increase the energy level of the photo-excited electrons from the TiO2 conduction band. Ag-doped TiO2 was carried out by a simple mixing method. The microstructure of Ag-doped TiO2 was successfully characterized by XRD and SEM. The absorbance of the Ag-doped TiO2 thin films was measured by UV–Vis spectroscopy, confirming the optimum energy gap of 3.09 eV and resulting in the best PCE of 6.31 %.