Wide-low energy coupled semi-conductor layers of TiO2 – CdX boosting the performance of DSSC

Abstract

This investigation involves design and fabrication of CdSe overlayer on titania substrate that produces a highly functional DSSC (dye sensitized solar cell) anode using commercial N3 as the sensitizer dye. CdSe nanoparticles were deposited on TiO2 through periodic voltammetry under variable (10 – 130) cycle scans. Matrix morphology and optical parameters of the TiO2 – CdSe fabricated layer were respectively determined by electron microscopy and UV–Visible spectroscopy. Output performance of the cell under illumination was recorded by current density–voltage measurements, transient photo response, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and incident photon to current conversion efficiency, while chrono-amperometry was used to derive durability of the cell. Remarkable output parameters were obtained for the optimized CdSe – TiO2 photo-anode loaded under 70 cycles showing, 13.29% photo conversion efficiency (PCE) and 15.30 mA cm−2 short circuit current density (JSC) for the operating DSSC. Similar investigations were extended to other chalcogenide NPs (CdTe and CdS) embedded on TiO2 for comparative study, whereby CdSe – TiO2 system was identified as the best performing DSSC anode matrix facilitating electron injection by the concerted effort of aligned energy band levels.