Films For Dye-sensitized Solar Cells Research Articles

Low Temperature Synthesis of Porous Nanocrystalline TiO2 Thick Film for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Hydrothermal Crystallization

Abstract A crack-free porous thick film of TiO2 has been fabricated by coating aqueous mixed paste of nanocrystalline TiO2 powder and TiCl4 and treating it by steam in an autoclave at a temperature as low as 100 °C. The added TiCl4 was hydrolyzed and crystallized into rutile TiO2 to “glue” the TiO2 particles. Dye-sensitized solar cell based on this material achieved a high conversion efficiency of 6.23% under illumination by a filtered Xe lamp equivalent to 1 sun intensity.

Electrochemical Self-Assembly of Dye-Modified Zinc Oxide Thin Films

One-step electrochemical self-assembly is an excellent new method for the construction of hybrid inorganic/organic films for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The promising oxide semiconductor zinc oxide can be electrodeposited in the presence of organic dye molecules to give porous thin films with varying morphology suitable for DSSCs (the Figure shows a ZnO film grown in the presence of a tetrasulfophthalocyanine).