Fabrication of double layer photoelectrodes using hierarchical TiO2 nanospheres for dye-sensitized solar cells

Jung Tae Park; Dong Kyu Roh; Won Seok Chi; Rajkumar Patel; Jong Hak Kim

Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol.18, No.1, 449-455, January, 2012

DOI10.1016/j.jiec.2011.11.029 Export Citation

Fabrication of double layer photoelectrodes using hierarchical TiO2 nanospheres for dye-sensitized solar cells

Jung Tae Park, Dong Kyu Roh, Won Seok Chi, Rajkumar Patel, and Jong Hak Kim^†

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, 262 Seongsanno, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749, South Korea

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Double layer photoelectrodes consisting of the TiO2 nanoparticles (npTiO2) with 30-40 nm in diameter and the TiO2 nanospheres (nsTiO2) with 100-200 nm as a bottom and a top layer, respectively, were fabricated for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employing a polymer electrolyte. The nsTiO2 with hierarchical pores were prepared via the combined process of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and a sol-gel. Use of nsTiO2 resulted in the remarkable enhancement of cell performance due to light scattering and dye adsorption capability. The overall energy conversion efficiency (η) of 5.5% was achieved by the formation of npTiO2-nsTiO2 double layer photoelectrode, which was higher than those formed by npTiO2 alone (4.6%) or nsTiO2-nsTiO2 double layer (4.4%). Electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) analysis showed that the npTiO2-nsTiO2 double layer had lower electron transfer resistance and longer electron lifetime, leading to facilitation of reduced recombination and consequently improvement of cell performance.

Keywords:Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC);Nanoparticle;Nanosphere;Atom transfer radical polymerization;(ATRP);Sol-gel

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Park JT, Roh DK, Patel R, Kim E, Ryu DY, Kim JH, J. Mater. Chem., 20, 8521 (2010)
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Roh DK, Park JT, Ahn SH, Ahn H, Ryu DY, Kim JH, Electrochim. Acta, 55(17), 4976 (2010)
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[3] Almeida LCP, Goncalves AD, Benedetti JE, Miranda PCML, Passoni LC, Nogueira AF, J. Mater. Sci., 45(18), 5054 (2010)

[4] Roy MS, Balraju P, Kumar M, Sharma GD, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells., 92, 909 (2008)

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[10] Zhu K, Neale NR, Miedaner A, Frank AJ, Nano Lett., 7, 69 (2007)

[11] Wang ZS, Kawauchi H, Kashima T, Arakawa H, Coord. Chem. Rev.

[12] Zheng YZ, Tao X, Wang LX, Xu H, Hou Q, Zhou WL, Chen JF, Chem. Mater., 22, 928 (2010)

[13] Rothenberger G, Comte P, Gratzel M, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 58(3), 321 (1999)

[14] Qiu Y, Chen W, Yang S, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 49, 3675 (2010)

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[16] Xu F, Dai M, Lu Y, Sun L, J. Phys. Chem. C., 114, 2776 (2010)

[17] Vargas WE, Niklasson GA, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells., 69, 147 (2001)

[18] Jiu JT, Wang FM, Sakamoto M, Takao J, Adachi M, J. Electrochem. Soc., 151(10), A1653 (2004)

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[22] Huang FZ, Chen DH, Zhang XL, Caruso RA, Cheng YB, Adv. Funct. Mater., 20(8), 1301 (2010)

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[24] Shao W, Gu F, Li C, Lu M, Inorg. Chem., 49, 5453 (2010)

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[29] Kim JH, Kang MS, Kim YJ, Won J, Park NG, Kang YS, Chem. Commun., 1662 (2010)

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[31] Cullity BD, Elements of X-ray Diffraction, Addison-Wesley Publ., Notre Dame (2010)

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