Formation of nanostructured films of titanium dioxide for solar cells sensitized with Roselle flower pigment

Abstract

In this paper, the study is focused on the assembly and analysis of nanostructured films of titanium dioxide (TiO2) for solar cells sensitized by dyes. An important application of nanostructured films is saved the most among dye because is responsible for absorbing photons. For this reason, the fabrication method of porous TiO2 films is crucial to get a good efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The preparation of TiO2 pastes was made by mixing the nanometric and submicron particles of TiO2 with PEG as a plasticizer, α-terpineol, water, and acetic acid to avoid the creation of defects in the films. The screen-printing method was used to build thin films.The analyses of the film were accomplished by employing techniques such as SEM, UV–vis, and adherence, while we used the Van der Pauw method to determine the resistivity of the TiO2 porous film. In conclusion, the ratio PEG/ TiO2 is important for the increase of porosity, so the higher the ratio PEG/ TiO2 higher the porosity thanks to the volume left by the PEG behind the calcination of the films. Three-layer films were obtained by screen-printing with good stability and a thickness of 60 μm.