Abstract
The enhancement of photoelectrochemical conversion efficiency of p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (p-DSSCs) is necessary to build up effective tandem devices in which both anode and cathode are photoactive. The efficiency of a p-type device (2.5%) is roughly one order of magnitude lower than the n-type counterparts (13.1%), thus limiting the overall efficiency of the tandem cell, especially in terms of powered current density. This is mainly due to the recombination reaction that occurs especially at the photocathode (or Indium-doped Tin Oxide (ITO))/electrolyte interface. To minimize this phenomenon, a widely employed strategy is to deposit a compact film of NiO (acting as a blocking electrode) beneath the porous electrode. Here, we propose electrodeposition as a cheap, easy scalable and environmental-friendly approach to deposit nanometric films directly on ITO glass. The results are compared to a blocking layer made by means of sol-gel technique. Cells embodying a blocking layer substantially outperformed the reference device. Among them, BL_1.10V shows the best photoconversion efficiency (0.166%) and one of the highest values of fill factor (approaching 46%) ever reported. This is mainly due to an optimized surface roughness of the blocking layer assuring a good deposition of the porous layer. The effectiveness of the implementation of the blocking layer is further proved by means of Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.
Highlights
A partial slowdown on research regarding Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) has been evidenced
In the present work focusing on DSSCs, we show SEM images in order to demonstrate that the surface porosity of nickel oxide (NiO) can be tuned upon changes of the electroplating potential
We found that the small thickness of the resulting electrodeposited films of NiO, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy could not provide an unambiguous and detectable signal that is associated with such a layer
Summary
A partial slowdown on research regarding Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) has been evidenced. 2 of 132 of 13 it involves the use of platinum, as a stable and efficient catalyst, which seriously undermines the implementation photoactive sensitized p-type semiconductor sustainabilityofofathe devices [7];counter-electrode, on the other hand, based just oneon ofathe electrodes is actively involved in [8,9]. Fact, the matching of the current density values powered by both photoanode and photocathode is Recently, different approaches been needed to obtain effective tandem have devices [22].exploited to enhance the performances of NiO-based. Once implemented in a complete device, the compact layer electrodeposited electrodeposited at 1.10 V clearly outperformed the others, leading to a PCE higher than 0.16% and at 1.10 V clearly outperformed the others, leading to a PCE higher than 0.16% and to a remarkable to a remarkable fill factor close to 46% These results account for the minimization of the TCO/NiO fill factor close to 46%. The implementation of a blocking layer minimizes the recombination between the holes in the NiO VB and the electrons in the ITO layer
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