Effect of Acetic Acid in TiCl₄Post-Treatment on Nanoporous TiO₂Electrode in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Abstract

Titanium tetrachloride (TiCl 4 ) is adopted as a post-treatment on the nanoporous titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) layers to enhance the performance of dyesensitized solar cells (DSCs). A TiCl 4 post-treatment is capable of improving electron transport and dye-loading on the surface of TiO 2 layers. In this study, the TiCl 4 solution mixed with acetic acid was employed to enhance the condition of the TiCl 4 post-treatment. Since acetic acid in the TiCl 4 solution prevents the formation of impurities and facilitates the crystallization, it improves dye adsorption and electron transport properties. To analyze the performance of the cell, we measured X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface measurements, UV-vis spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and photocurrent-voltage (I-V ) measurements. #

Study on the Fabrication of Paint-Type Si Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells

“…In general adsorption process, nano-porous TiO 2 electrode is immersed in the solution of sensitizer and sensitizers are adsorbed on TiO 2 . [24][25][26][27][28][29] However, large Si particles are impossible to penetrate into nano-pore of TiO 2 layer. Accordingly, just few particles are adsorbed on the outside of TiO 2 layer and low photocurrent is generated.…”