ENHANCED INTERCONNECTION OF TiO2 NANOPARTICLES USING ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITION FOR FLEXIBLE DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS WITH PLASTIC SUBSTRATES

In order to improve the interconnection of TiO2 photoelectrode for the flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with plastic substrates, thin TiO2 layers are additionally introduced to the surface of main TiO2 nanoparticles by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at low temperature. The ALD-induced TiO2 thin layers on porous films effectively reduced the internal electrical resistance, leading to the facilitated electron transport in DSSCs. As a result, DSSCs with ALD-induced TiO2 thin layers (thickness of ~ 1.5 nm) showed better power conversion efficiency of 3.09%, which is 33% enhancement compared with that without ALD-induced TiO2 thin layers (2.32%). We develop low temperature sintering method using atomic layer deposition (ALD) to induce tight interconnection of TiO2 nanoparticles in plastic dye-sensitized solar cells. The ALD-induced TiO2 thin layers on porous films cause better interconnection between TiO2 particles, which can account for the enhanced photocurrent. Consequently, the ALD-treated solar cells show enhanced power conversion efficiency by 33%, compared to that without ALD-treatment.

BOEUN KIM et al

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