Layer-by-Layer Titanium (IV) Chloride Treatment of TiO 2 Films to Improve Solar Energy Harvesting in Dye-Sensitized Sola
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-020-08598-6 2020 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Layer-by-Layer Titanium (IV) Chloride Treatment of TiO2 Films to Improve Solar Energy Harvesting in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells SYED AFAQ ALI SHAH ,1,5 ZHONGYI GUO,1,4 MUHAMMAD HASSAN SAYYAD,2 and SALEM ABDULKARIM3 1.—School of Electrical Engineering and Intelligentization, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China. 2.—Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi District Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23640, Pakistan. 3.—Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Benghazi, Al Marj City, Libya. 4.—School of Computer and Information, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China. 5.—e-mail: [email protected]
A layer-by-layer titanium (IV) chloride treatment was applied on different layers of TiO2 in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The effects were analysed and compared with standard untreated devices. A significant increase in short-circuit current density (JSC) was observed by employing layer-by-layer TiCl4 treatment of TiO2 in DSSCs. This increase of JSC is attributed to the increased inter-particle connectivity and increase in TiO2 nanoparticle size, resulting in better electron transfer and a lower charge carrier recombination rate. The DSSC fabricated with layer-by-layer-treated TiO2 achieved power conversion efficiency of 8.3%, which is significantly higher than the 6.7% achieved for the DSSC fabricated without TiCl4 treatment. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was performed to assess the better performance of the device fabricated with TiCl4 treatment. Atomic force microscopy and surface roughness were studied to visualize and statistically determine the function of TiCl4 treatment on different layers of TiO2. Transient photocurrent and transient photovoltage measurements were also performed to gain insight into interfacial charge carrier recombination. Key words: Atomic force microscopy, semiconductor, dye-sensitized solar cells, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, charge carriers
INTRODUCTION Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted much attention in the past few decades because of their low-cost production, flexibility, high performance, clean energy, ease of manufacturing, multiple colours and many options for efficiency enhancement.1–4 In a normal configuration, a DSSC comprises five components: transparent conductive oxide (TCO) coated on glass substrate, a film of
(Received August 26, 2020; accepted October 30, 2020)
semiconductor material, a sensitizer, a redox couple electrolyte and a counter electrode. Comprehensive work has been reported on the development and optimization of different components required for this technology. Many studies on DSSC technology have recently been reported that provide a detailed account of the working principles, different configurations, theoretical and experimental limitations, advancements made towards commercialization and
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