Abstract
Indium oxide (In2O3) thin films annealed at various annealing temperatures were prepared by using spin-coating method for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The objective of this research is to enhance the photovoltaic conversion efficiency in In2O3 thin films by finding the optimum annealing temperature and also to study the reason for high and low performance in the annealed In2O3 thin films. The structural and morphological characteristics of In2O3 thin films were studied via XRD patterns, atomic force microscopy (AFM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), EDX sampling, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The annealing treatment modified the nanostructures of the In2O3 thin films viewed through FESEM images. The In2O3-450°C-based DSSC exhibited better photovoltaic performance than the other annealed thin films of 1.54%. The electron properties were studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) unit. The In2O3-450°C thin films provide larger diffusion rate, low recombination effect, and longer electron lifetime, thus enhancing the performance of DSSC.
Highlights
A commercially viable dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) through low-cost processes for electricity generation that exhibits realistic energy-conversion efficiency was first reported by O’Regan and Graetzel in 1991 [1]
We have successfully investigated the influence of annealing temperature in In2O3-based DSSCs
The film annealed at 550∘C has better crystalline properties, the greater thickness of the photoanode layer degraded the DSSC performance
Summary
A commercially viable dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) through low-cost processes for electricity generation that exhibits realistic energy-conversion efficiency was first reported by O’Regan and Graetzel in 1991 [1]. Research on In2O3 is very rare in photovoltaic materials due to its weak photoelectroactivity and poor charge carrier transport in In2O3 [8], decreasing the power conversion efficiency of the cell. The previous research on In2O3 density of as photovoltaic material exhibited a 0.75 mA/cm2 [9] and 3.83 mA/cm low current [8] which is remarkably low compared to other metal oxides such as TiO2 (9.49 mA/cm2) [10] and ZnO (6.1 mA/cm2) [11]. In2O3 nanoporous enhanced by annealing treatment, believed to act as a direct transport layer for photogenerated electrons leading to low recombination rate and longer electron life time in DSSCs, were prepared by spincoating technique [13]. The method used to develop the DSSC is simple, inexpensive, and not harmful to the environment
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