Three-dimensional double deck meshlike dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a new type of three-dimensional dye-sensitized solar cells (3D DSSCs) with double deck cylindrical Ti meshes as the substrates. One of the Ti meshes is anodized to in situ synthesize the self-organized TiO2 nanotube layer as the photoanode materials. Another Ti mesh is platinized through electrodeposition as the counter electrode. The morphologies of the electrodes are characterized by scanning electron microscopy. We investigate the effect of the mesh number on the 3D DSSCs with the dye adsorption, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results show that with the increase in the mesh number, the dye-loadings on the photoanode and the active surface area of Pt on the counter electrode are increased, while the diffusion of the electrolyte becomes more difficult due to the reduced diameter of the openings in the mesh. It has also been demonstrated that the performance of this 3D DSSC is independent of the incident solar beam angle due to its axial symmetrical structure. In the I-V measurement, the 3D DSSC based on the 90-mesh photoanode and the 120-mesh counter electrode shows the highest conversion efficiency of 5.5% under standard AM 1.5 sunlight. The problems of electrical insulator layer are discussed and further investigation is expected.