Enhancement of the Photovoltaic Properties of Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells Using Y0.80Yb0.18Er0.02OF Nanorods

Abstract

AbstractThe photoanode plays a critical role in influencing the performance of dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In this work, Y0.80Yb0.18Er0.02OF nanorods (YYEOF NRs) are synthetized by a simple hydrothermal method and incorporated into the TiO2 film to form a bi‐layer photoanode consisting of nanoparticles (NPs) on the bottom and nanorods on top. Owing to the improved light collection efficiency and electron transport rate, the resultant YYEOF NRs are advantageous as photoanode dopants for DSSCs. Following assembly into an integrated DSSC, an enhanced photocurrent and power conversion efficiency (PCE) are observed. Benefiting from the p‐type doping effect of the YYEOF NRs, the photovoltage of the DSSCs is elevated. The cell performance can be maximized through optimization of the fraction of YYEOF NRs, and the results demonstrate that a promising PCE of 7.74 % is determined for the DSSC with 5 wt % YYEOF NRs, yielding 32.5 % enhancement in comparison to pristine TiO2 NPs‐based solar cells. This work provides a promising strategy to explore photoanode materials, which will lead to further efficiency improvements for solar cells.