Improved Light Conversion Efficiency Of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell By Dispersing Submicron-Sized Granules Into The Nano-Sized TiO2 Layer

Abstract

In this work, TiO[2] nanoparticles and submicron-sized granules were synthesized by a hydrothermal method and spray pyrolysis, respectively. Submicron-sized granules were dispersed into the nano-sized TiO[2] layer to improve the light conversion efficiency. Granules showed better light scattering, but lower in terms of the dye-loading quantity and recombination resistance compared with nanoparticles. Consequently, the nano-sized TiO[2] layer had higher cell efficiency than the granulized TiO[2] layer. When dispersed granules into the nanoparticle layer, the light scattering was enhanced without the loss of dye-loading quantities. The dispersion of granulized TiO[2] led to increase the cell efficiency up to 6.51%, which was about 5.2 % higher than that of the electrode consisting of only TiO[2] nanoparticles. Finally, the optimal hydrothermal temperature and dispersing quantity of granules were found to be 200°C and 20 wt%, respectively.