Improved efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cell via surface modification of TiO2 photoelectrode by spray pyrolysis

Madhu Mohan, V and Murakam, K and Jonnalagadda, M and Machavaram, VR (2021) Improved efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cell via surface modification of TiO2 photoelectrode by spray pyrolysis. In: Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 32 (13). pp. 18231-18239.

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Abstract

Pure TiO2 and surface-modified TiO2 (SMT) films have been developed using zinc acetate solution on fluorine-doped SnO2 (FTO) substrates via spray pyrolysis technique for the application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). X-ray diffraction (XRD) profiles indicate that pure TiO2 and SMT exhibit the same crystal structure. Optical absorption studies reveal that there is no significant absorption difference between SMT and pure TiO2. Impedance measurements show that ZnO layer-covered TiO2 nanoparticles particularly increase the impedance and also suppress the reverse transmission of photo-induced electrons ejected from SMT electrode to the electrolyte. Surface morphological and elemental studies have been performed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) respectively. The photoelectrochemical (J�V curves) values of DSSCs for pure TiO2 and SMT thin films have been compared. The results show that the photoelectric current (JSC) of pure TiO2 increased from 16.73 to 18.09 mA cm�2. Additionally, open-circuit voltage (VOC) of DSSCs containing SMT thin films appreciably changed from 0.71 to 0.75 V. This indicates that the ZnO layer on TiO2 nanoparticles contributes to the surface resistance, which impedes the flow of back-scattered electrons to the electrolyte significantly. The incident light conversion into power efficiency of the DSSCs has been increased from 8.25 to 9.3. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics
Publisher:	Springer
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to Springer
Keywords:	Crystal structure; Dye-sensitized solar cells; Electrolytes; Enamels; Energy dispersive X ray analysis; Field emission microscopes; II-VI semiconductors; Light absorption; Nanoparticles; Open circuit voltage; Oxide minerals; Scanning electron microscopy; Spray pyrolysis; Surface mount technology; Thin films; Titanium dioxide; X ray diffraction analysis; Zinc oxide, Backscattered electrons; Energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX); Field emission scanning electron microscopy; Impedance measurement; Optical absorption studies; Photoelectric current; Photoelectrochemicals; Spray-pyrolysis techniques, TiO2 nanoparticles
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2021 11:33
Last Modified:	20 Nov 2021 11:33
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/69874

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