EFFECTS OF TiO2 PARTICLE SIZE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS USING IONIC LIQUID ELECTROLYTES

Different-sized nanocrystalline-TiO2 particles have been used for the optimization of photovoltaic effects of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) using an ionic-liquid (IL) electrolyte. Ru dye (Z907) was used for the IL-DSC optimization. The TiO2 nanoparticle sizes and the thickness of nanocrystalline-TiO2 electrodes ranged from 13 nm to 81 nm and 2 μm to 23 μm, respectively. The particle size of the nanocrystalline TiO2 film greatly affected the photovoltaic characteristics, particularly for the IL electrolyte due to limitation of the photocurrent by -diffusion. The optimized electrode for IL-DSC had a 15 μm thickness using a 27 nm diameter of nanocrystalline-TiO2 particles. In order to characterize the effect of the TiO2 particle size on the photovoltaic effects of IL-DSCs, a scanning electron micrograph (surface and cross section of nanoparticles), BET specific surface area analysis, pore-size distribution analysis, photocurrent transient measurements, haze spectroscopy, photovoltaic measurements, incident-photon-to-current conversion efficiency spectroscopy and impedance measurement have been used. Different-sized nanocrystalline–TiO2 particles have been used for the optimization of photovoltaic effects of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) using an ionic–liquid (IL) electrolyte. Ru dye (Z907) was used for the IL-DSC optimization. The particle size of the nanocrystalline–TiO2 film greatly affected the photovoltaic characteristics, particularly for the ionic–liquid electrolyte due to limitation of the photocurrent by I-/I-3-diffusion. The optimized electrode for IL-DSC had a 15 µm thickness using a 27 nm diameter of nanocrystalline–TiO2 particles.

SEIGO ITO et al

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