The influence of 1D, meso- and crystal structures on charge transport and recombination in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

Pablo Docampo; Aruna Ivaturi; Robert Gunning; Sandra Diefenbach; James Kirkpatrick; Claudia M. Palumbiny; Varun Sivaram; Hugh Geaney; Lukas Schmidt-Mende; Mark E. Welland; Henry J. Snaith

doi:10.1039/C3TA11855J

The influence of 1D, meso- and crystal structures on charge transport and recombination in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells†

Pablo Docampo,^a Aruna Ivaturi,^b Robert Gunning,^a Sandra Diefenbach,^c James Kirkpatrick,^a Claudia M. Palumbiny,^c Varun Sivaram,^a Hugh Geaney,^d Lukas Schmidt-Mende,^ce Mark E. Welland^b and Henry J. Snaith*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, UK
E-mail: h.snaith1@physics.ox.ac.uk

^b Nanoscience Centre, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, 11 J J Thomson av., Cambridge CB3 0FF, UK

^c Department of Physics and Center for NanoScience, Amalienstr. 54, 80799 München, Germany

^d MSSI, Department of Chemical and Environmental Science, University of Limerick, Ireland

^e Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany

Abstract

We have prepared single crystalline SnO₂ and ZnO nanowires and polycrystalline TiO₂ nanotubes (1D networks) as well as nanoparticle-based films (3D networks) from the same materials to be used as photoanodes for solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells. In general, superior photovoltaic performance can be achieved from devices based on 3-dimensional networks, mostly due to their higher short circuit currents. To further characterize the fabricated devices, the electronic properties of the different networks were measured via the transient photocurrent and photovoltage decay techniques. Nanowire-based devices exhibit extremely high, light independent electron transport rates while recombination dynamics remain unchanged. This indicates, contrary to expectations, a decoupling of transport and recombination dynamics. For typical nanoparticle-based photoanodes, the devices are usually considered electron-limited due to the poor electron transport through nanocrystalline titania networks. In the case of the nanowire-based devices, the system becomes limited by the organic hole transporter used. In the case of polycrystalline TiO₂ nanotube-based devices, we observe lower transport rates and higher recombination dynamics than their nanoparticle-based counterparts, suggesting that in order to improve the electron transport properties of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells, single crystalline structures should be used. These findings should aid future design of photoanodes based on nanowires or porous semiconductors with extended crystallinity to be used in dye-sensitized solar cells.

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

The influence of 1D, meso- and crystal structures on charge transport and recombination in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells†

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The influence of 1D, meso- and crystal structures on charge transport and recombination in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

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