Reporting performance in MoS2–TiO2 bilayer and heterojunction films based dye-sensitized photovoltaic devices

Abstract

Three types of bilayer and heterojunction films photoanodes were designed and fabricated from green synthesized MoS2 and TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs), and then the dye-sensitized solar cells based on these various films photoanodes were investigated. Results demonstrated that layered semiconductor MoS2 could be a viable material candidate for solar cell applications due to its superior photoelectric characteristics. The DSSCs from the MoS2@TiO2 heterojunction film photoanode exhibit the highest solar energy conversion efficiency of 6.02% under AM 1.5G simulated solar irradiation, which is 1.5 times higher than that of the cell from pure TiO2 film photoanode. MoS2–TiO2 heterojunction at the interface helps MoS2 NPs to efficiently collect the photo-injected electrons from TiO2 NPs, thus reduce charge recombination at both the NPs-electrolyte and NPs-dye interfaces. These advantages together with collecting or transferring injected electrons abilities by combining the improved light absorption and the large dye-loading capacity of such structural NPs films, rendering the MoS2–TiO2 composite photoelectrode superior potential for DSSCs applications.