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Performance enhancement of dye-sensitized solar cell with a TiCl4-treated TiO2 compact layer

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Abstract

We here show that an effective blocking layer for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) can be formed by spin coating a commercial TiO2 paste onto a conducting glass substrate. The spin-coated TiO2 layer was made more compact than the main absorption layer by TiCl4 treatment. DSSCs employing a compact layer exhibited an average current density and an efficiency of 19.09 mA/cm2 and 9.10%, respectively, while 16.91 mA/cm2 and 8.33% were obtained from unblocked reference cells. The enhanced DSSC performance is attributed to the increased electron lifetime. Intensity-modulated photovoltage spectroscopy and open-circuit voltage decay analysis showed that a TiCl4-treated compact layer substantially suppresses the charge recombination at the TiO2/substrate interface, thereby increasing the electron lifetime.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Korea

    Jisuk Park & Myeongkyu Lee

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  1. Jisuk Park
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  2. Myeongkyu Lee
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Correspondence to Myeongkyu Lee.

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Park, J., Lee, M. Performance enhancement of dye-sensitized solar cell with a TiCl4-treated TiO2 compact layer. Electron. Mater. Lett. 11, 271–275 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-014-4130-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13391-014-4130-6

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