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- Impact of drying procedure on the morphology and structure of TiO2 xerogels and the performance of Dye Sensitized Solar Cells
Impact of drying procedure on the morphology and structure of TiO2 xerogels and the performance of Dye Sensitized Solar Cells
in: Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2017)
Different morphologies of TiO2 photoelectrodes for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC)
were obtained by using TiO2 gels dried in normal conditions (TiO2amb) and in CO2
atmosphere at high pressure (TiO2press). After a subsequent calcination, the powders
were processed as pastes and drop-casted on conductive glass in order to prepare
photoanodes for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC). N719 commercial dye was used as
sensitizer in all the experiments. The structure and morphology of the processed TiO2
materials were investigated via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy
(SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N2 adsorption/desorption
measurements. The dye adsorption capacity of the photoanodes was tested using UVVIS
absorption spectroscopy. The photovoltaic performances of the DSSC were
investigated using current/voltage curves (I/V), open circuit photovoltage decay
measurements (OCVD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The
conversion efficiency (η) and short circuit density (Jsc) for TiO2amb were 1.90% and 5
mA/cm2 respectively, while the TiO2press cell exhibited a 40% and 50% increase in Jsc and η values respectively. This was correlated with increased dye loading
capacities due to a broader distribution of pore size towards the mesopore region.