Production and characterization of TiO₂ nanoparticle thin films for its application in DSSCs

Abstract

In this research, TiO2 nanoparticle thin films were successfully prepared on FTO glass substrates through a doctor blade technique, and its application was tested in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with different sensitizing dyes such as methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO). The physicochemical properties of intended thin films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS) techniques. The experimental results revealed that dipped TiO2 nanoparticle thin films into MB dye solution showed a higher photovoltaic efficiency (1.45%) when compared with the MO dye solution. A reasonable mechanism of DSSCs was also proposed.

Development of activated carbon-doped TiO2 nanoparticle thin film for application in dye-sensitized solar cells

“…500-600 nm. The results can be observed that the basellaceae dye shows a broader absorbance range than malvaceae and hylocereus dyes, suggesting that basellaceae has higher transfer of electron on LUMO of basellaceae dye to the conduction band of thin film than malvaceae and hylocereus dyes [22]. Therefore, it can be inferred that the basellaceae is a suitable dye for being used as a sensitizing dye to coat on thin film for utilization in DSSCs.…”

“…From the results, it can be seen that the efficiency of activated carbon-doped TiO2 nanoparticle thin film with basellaceae dye in DSSCs shows the highest compared with malvaceae and hylocereus dyes under solar light irradiation. This may be due to broader absorbance range [22]. Moreover, TiO2 doping with activated carbon also can help to narrow band gap energy and facilitate the separation of photogenerated charge carriers, resulting in its enhanced efficiency [23][24][25][26].…”