Investigating the Effect of Rare-Earth Photoanode Doping on Dye-Sensitised Solar Cell Electrical Performance

Abstract

Renewable energy sources, such as solar energy, could potentially provide an affordable alternative to conventionally generated electricity, especially in locations like the Caribbean which tend to have an abundant solar resource, but also high cost for electricity. Thin film and hybrid solar devices, including Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs), are especially promising energy solutions, due to the low cost of materials and equipment required for their fabrication. In this paper, we investigate the effect of doping titanium dioxide based DSSC photoanodes with lanthanum, cerium, and praseodymium species on the overall performance of the cell, along with results from optimization of the best performing cell formulation according to sintering time and sintering temperature, giving a maximum 39% increase in device efficiency.

A review on spectral converting nanomaterials as a photoanode layer in dye‐sensitized solar cells with implementation in energy storage devices

“…In 2018, Henderson et al investigated the effect of RE lanthanum, cerium, and praseodymium‐doped TiO 2 ‐based DSSC photoanodes on the overall performance of the cell. Their experimental study revealed that TiO 2 doped with 2% concentration of lanthanum and sintered at 400 °C for 30 min exhibit the maximum efficiency (increased by 39%) of DSSCs as compared to undoped photoanodes in DSSCs According to another recent report, Xing et al observed that 0.050 g‐Ce/TiO 2 as photoanode material shows maximum energy conversion efficiency in DSSCs, in comparison to pristine TiO 2 and TiO 2 samples with different Ce%.…”