The Influence of Electrophoretic Deposition for Fabricating Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Jung-Chuan Chou,Jui-En Hu,Shen-Chang Lin,Shen-Wei Chuang,Chin-Hui Huang,Yi-Hung Liao

doi:10.1155/2014/126053

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) film was deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate by electrophoretic deposition method (EPD). TiO2films were prepared with different I2dosages, electric field intensities and deposition time (D.T.), electrophotic deposition times. By different I2dosages, electric field intensities, deposition time, electrophotic deposition times fabricated TiO2films and compared photoelectric characteristics of TiO2films to find optimal parameters which were the highest photovoltaic conversion efficiency. And use electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to measure the Nyquist plots under different conditions and analyze the impendence of dye-sensitized solar cells at the internal heterojunction. According to the experimental results, the I2dosage was 0.025 g which obtained the optimal characteristic parameters. Thickness of TiO2film was 10.6 μm, the open-circuit voltage (Voc) was 0.77 V, the short-circuit current density (Jsc) was 7.20 mA/cm2, the fill factor (F.F.) was 53.41%, and photovoltaic conversion efficiency (η) was 2.96%.

Highlights

Solar energy has been considered as a renewable energy of the generation since fossil fuel was getting less and less
We increased the distance between two electrodes from 1 cm to 2 cm; the TiO2 film thicknesses were thinner with increasing distance between two electrodes, which could lead the higher possibility for TiO2 nanoparticles to collide each other that led to the deceleration and decreased deposition rate
Nanocrystalline TiO2 films were deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates by the electrophoretic deposition method

Summary

Introduction

Solar energy has been considered as a renewable energy of the generation since fossil fuel was getting less and less. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) had several advantages such as tunable bandgap and great absorption dye ability, so it has been a widely used material in many fields, such as photocatalysis, gas sensor, sunscreen, dye-sensitized solar cell, and other applications [2]. There are several methods to manufacture titanium dioxide films, such as sputtering [3], hydrothermal method [4], doctor-blade [5], spin coating [6], chemical bath [7], electrophoretic deposition [8], and screen printing [9]. TiO2 films were prepared by electrophoretic deposition method. For improving the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell, the structure of TiO2 has been developed in several forms such as nanosheet [8], nanowire [5], and nanopores [9]

Experimental Details

Results and Discussion

Conclusions