Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) performance of Tin Oxide thin films deposited by dip coating and doctor blade technique

Abstract

In this work, we investigate two different approaches to the determination of tin oxide material's DSSC efficiency. Tin oxide thin-film coating is the first, and sol gel acrylamide (from gel precipitation) is the method used to create tin oxide nanopowder. The properties of tin oxide films and tin oxide powder (electrical, optical and structural) were investigated. Tin oxide films were sensitized in ruthenium (II) (R535, N3-dye, Solaronix) bis (2,2-bipyridyl-4-4-di-carboxylate) dye solution for 12 hours at room temperature. The counter electrode was an FTO substrate coated with carbon paste. To build the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), the carbon counter electrode was clamped against the dye-sensitized tin oxide photoelectrode. The electrolyte (0.5M KI, 0.05M I2, 0.05M 4-tert-butylpridine) was filled capillary force then poured into the inter-electrode gap. The area of the active cell was 0.25 cm2. The cell was exposed to radiation using a 250 W Xenon lamp fitted with an infrared and ultraviolet blocking filter. The average grain size in this work was 20 nm, which results in a conversion efficiency of 1.375%. At 100 mW/cm2, the stimulated incident light causes an open circuit voltage and short circuit current density of 0.475 V and 3.0 mA cm− 2. An alternative process involves depositing films on FTO substrates (5 ohms/sq) using tin oxide nanopowder coated by doctor blade technique, using SnO2 powder that is produced via the sol gel acrylamide procedure. It is feasible to produce films with varying grain sizes using this method. The experimental findings show that, in comparison to alternative deposition techniques, the doctor blade technique yielded SnO2 films suitable for use as a photoelectrode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). With an average grain size of 120 nm and a conversion efficiency of 3.84%, the best device found in this work has an 0.75 V (Voc) and 8.0 mA cm− 2 (Jsc) respectively at 100 mW/cm2 of simulated incident light. This result is comparable with earlier report on undoped tin oxide based DSSC.