Enhanced pore filling of spiro-OMeTAD by enlarging the porosity of TiO2 films and its effects on the photovoltaic performance of ss-DSCs

Abstract

Four kinds of TiO2 electrodes with different porosities were prepared by adding different ratios of ethyl cellulous into a Dyesol 18-NRT paste. Higher polymer ratios contributed to the higher porosity of TiO2 films. All electrodes were spin-coated with spiro-OMeTAD and fabricated into solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (ss-DSCs). This simple method allowed more spiro-OMeTAD penetrated into the more porous TiO2 films. This result demonstrated the pore-filling effect of hole transport materials on the photovoltaic performance of ss-DSCs. Photoluminescence and electrical impedance spectra measurements were introduced to investigate the dye regeneration, charge transport, and recombination kinetics of the solar cells. The increased pore filling of spiro-OMeTAD could enhance hole injection, hole transport, and recombination retardation, thus providing good charge collection efficiency and long recombination lifetime and resulting in the high short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, fill factor, and energy conversion efficiency of the solar cells. An efficiency enhancement of 34 % was obtained by using this method. However, further increasing the TiO2 porosity decreased the electron transport, thus causing a low charge collection and reducing cell performance.