Abstract
The photoanode of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), usually made with a nanoporous TiO2 semiconductor layer sensitized with N719 dye, plays a crucial role in the overall power conversion efficiency as it influences both the light absorption and the electron transport. Generally, enhanced photon absorbance is achieved through light scattering in the device by employing a double-layered TiO2 photoanode consisting of an active layer of smaller (~ 20 nm) P25 particles and a scattering layer consisting of larger (~ 300 nm) particles. However, due to the smaller effective surface area of the larger particle layer, the dye adsorption in the second layer is very poor, and therefore, the efficiency enhancement due to the usage of thicker photo anode is hindered. Therefore, in this study, investigations were carried out to replace the conventional, larger particle scattering layer by a morphologically different structure of TiO2. Here, the DSSC performance between two different types of scattering layers, one consisting of TiO2 nanorods (NRs) and the other consisting of hierarchically structured TiO2 submicron size spheres (MS) are compared. DSSC fabricated with P25/MS double-layered photoanode outperforms the DSSC fabricated with P25/NR double-layered photoanode. P25/MS-based DSSC delivered a highest short-circuit current density of 14.80 mA cm−2 with an efficiency of 7.38%, while the efficiency of DSSC fabricated with P25/NR photoanode exhibits 7.03% efficiency. The DSSC fabricated without a scattering layer showed only 6.68% efficiency. The diffuse reflectance and dye adsorption measurements revealed that the better performance of P25/MS double-layered DSSC is largely due to the improved photon absorption facilitated by superior light scattering as well as higher dye loading by TiO2 submicron size spheres.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
O’Regan B, Grätzel M (1991) A low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO2 films. Nature 353(6346):737–740
Kalyanasundaram K (2010) Dye-sensitized solar cells, 1st edn. EPFL press, Lausanne
Yella A, Lee HW, Tsao HN, Yi C, Chandiran AK, Nazeeruddin MK (2011) Porphyrin-sensitized solar cells with cobalt (II/III)-based redox electrolyte exceed 12 percent efficiency. Science 334(6056):629–634
Mathew S, Yella A, Gao P, Humphry-Baker R, Curchod BFE, Ashari-Astani N et al (2014) Dye-sensitized solar cells with 13% efficiency achieved through the molecular engineering of porphyrin sensitizers. Nat Chem 6:242–247
Kakiage K, Aoyama Y, Yano T, Oya K, Fujisawa J, Hanaya M (2015) Highly-efficient dye-sensitized solar cells with collaborative sensitization by silyl-anchor and carboxy-anchor dyes. Chem Commu 51(88):15894–15897
Freitag M, Teuscher J, Saygili Y, Zhang X, Giordano F, Liska P, Hua J, Zakeeruddin SM, Moser JE, Grätzel M, Hagfeldt A (2017) Dye-sensitized solar cells for efficient power generation under ambient lighting. Nat Photonics 11(6):372–378
Song MY, Kim DK, Ihn KJ, Jo SM, Kim DY (2004) Electrospun TiO2 electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. Nanotechnology 15:1861–1865
Liu Z, Su X, Hou G, Bi S, Xiao Z, Jia H (2013) Mixed photoelectrode based on spherical TiO2 nanorod aggregates for dye-sensitized solar cells with high short-circuit photocurrent density. RSc Adv 3:8474–8479
Kumari JMKW, Senadeera GKR, Dissanayake MAKL, Thotawatthage CA (2017) Dependence of photovoltaic parameters on the size of cations adsorbed by TiO2 photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells. Ionics 23(10):2895–2900
Ye M, Xin X, Lin C, Lin Z (2011) High efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells based on hierarchically structured nanotubes. Nano Lett 11:3214–3220
Senadeera GKR, Kobayashi S, Kitamura T, Wada Y, Yanagida S (2005) Versatile preparation method for mesoporousTiO2 electrodes suitable for solid-state dye sensitized photocells. Bull Mater Sci Sci 28(6):635–641
Barbé CJ, Arendse F, Comte P, Jirousek M, Lenzmann F, Shklover V et al (1997) Nanocrystalline titanium oxide electrodes for photovoltaic applications. J Am Ceram Soc 80:3157–3171
Mishra A, Fischer MKR, Bäuerle P (2009) Metal-free organic dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells: from structure: property relationships to design rules. Angew Chem 48(14):2474–2499
Cid JJ, Yum JH, Jang SR, Nazeeruddin MK, Martínez-Ferrero E, Palomares E et al (2007) Molecular cosensitization for efficient panchromatic dye-sensitized solar cells. Angew Chem 119:8510–8514
Chen Y, Zeng Z, Li C, Wang W, Wang X, Zhang B (2005) Highly efficient co-sensitization of nanocrystalline TiO2 electrodes with plural organic dyes. New J Chem 29(6):773–776
Yum J-H, Baranoff E, Kessler F, Moehl T, Ahmad S, Bessho T, Marchioro A, Ghadiri E, Moser JE, Yi C, Nazeeruddin MK, Grätzel M (2012) A cobalt complex redox shuttle for dye-sensitized solar cells with high open-circuit potentials. Nat Commun 3(1):631
Dissanayake MAKL, Thotawatthage CA, Senadeera GKR, Bandara TMWJ, Jayasundera WJMJSR, Mellander B-E (2012) Efficiency enhancement by mixed cation effect in dye-sensitized solar cells with PAN based gel polymer electrolyte. J Photochem Photobiol A246:29–35
Arof AK, Aziz MF, Noor MM, Careem MA, Bandara LRAK, Thotawatthage CA, Rupasinghe WNS, Dissanayake MAKL (2014) Efficiency enhancement by mixed cation effect in dye-sensitized solar cells with a PVdF based gel polymer electrolyte. Int J Hydrog Energy 39(6):2929–2935
Wang H, Sun K, Tao F, Stacchiola DJ, Hu YH (2013) 3D honeycomb-like structured graphene and its high efficiency as a counter-electrode catalyst for dye-sensitized solar cells. Angew Chem 52(35):9210–9214
Jo Y, Cheon JY, Yu J, Jeong HY, Han CH, Jun Y et al (2012) Highly interconnected ordered mesoporous carbon-carbon nanorod nanocomposites: Pt-free, highly efficient, and durable counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. Chem Commun 48:8057–8059
Murakami TN, Ito S, Wang Q, Nazeeruddin MK, Bessho T, Cesar I et al (2006) Highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells based on carbon black counter electrodes. J Electrochem Soc 153:A2255–A2261
Hong W, Xu Y, Lu G, Li C, Shi G (2008) Transparent graphene/PEDOT–PSS composite films as counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells. Electrochem Commun 10:1555–1558
Ito S, Murakami TN, Comte P, Liska P, Grätzel M, Nazeeruddin MK (2008) Fabrication of thin film dye sensitized solar cells with solar to electric power conversion efficiency over 10%. Thin Solid Films 516:4613–4619
Bakhshayesh AM, Mohammadi MR, Dadar H, Fray DJ (2013) Improved efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells aided by corn-like TiO2 nanowires as the light scattering layer. Electrochim Acta 90:302–308
Marandi M, Goudarzi Z, Moradi L (2017) Synthesis of randomly directed inclined TiO2 nanorods on the nanocrystalline TiO2 layers and their optimized application in dye sensitized solar cells. J Alloys Comp 711:603–610
Zhu P, Nair AS, Yang S, Peng S, Ramakrishna S (2011) Which is a superior material for scattering layer in dye-sensitized solar cells - electrospun rice grain- or nanofiber-shaped TiO2? J Mater Chem 21:12210–12212
Qiu Y, Chen W, Yang S (2010) Double-layered photoanodes from variable-size anatase TiO2 nanospindles: a candidate for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells. Angew Chem 49:3675–3679
Sauvage F, Chen D, Comte P, Huang F, Heiniger LP, Cheng YB (2010) Dye-sensitized solar cells employing a single film of mesoporous TiO2 beads achieve power conversion efficiencies over 10%. ACS Nano 4:4420–4425
Huang F, Chen D, Zhang XL, Caruso RA, Cheng YB (2010) Dual-function scattering layer of submicrometer-sized mesoporous TiO2 beads for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells. Adv Funct Mater 20(8):1301–1305
Al-Attafi K, Nattestad A, Yamauchi Y, Dou SX, Kim JH (2017) Aggregated mesoporous nanoparticles for high surface area light scattering layer TiO2 photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells. Sci Rep 7(1):10341
Kumari JMKW, Sanjeevadharshini N, Dissanayake MAKL, Senadeera GKR, Thotawatthage CA (2016) The effect of TiO2 photo anode film thickness on photovoltaic properties of dye-sensitized solar cells. Ceylon J Sci 45(1):33–41
Akilavasan J, Al-Jassim M, Bandara J (2015) Designing nanostructured one-dimensional TiO2 nanorod and TiO2 nanoparticle multilayer composite film as photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells to increase the charge collection efficiency. J Nanophoton 9(1):093091
Kim YJ, Lee M, Kim H, Lim G, Choi Y, Park N-G, Kim K, Lee W (2009) Formation of highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells by hierarchical pore generation with nanoporous TiO2 spheres. Adv Mater 21:3668–3673
Wang Q, Moser JE, Gratzel M (2005) Electrochemical impedance spectroscopic analysis of dye-sensitized solar cells. J Phys Chem B109:14945–14953
Han L, Koide N, Chiba Y, Mitate T (2004) Modeling of an equivalent circuit for dye-sensitized solar cells. Appl Phys Lett 84(13):2433–2435
Dissanayake MAKL, Jaseetharan T, Senadeera GKR, Thotawatthage CA (2018) A novel Pbs: Hg quantum dot sensitized highly efficient solar cells structure with triple layers TiO2 photoanode. Electochim Acta 269:172–179
Zhang Z, Ito S, O'Regan B (2009) The electronic role of the TiO2 light-scattering layer in dye-sensitized solar cells. ZeitschriftfürPhysikalischeChemie 221:319–327
Funding
This project received financial support from the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka under grant no. NSF/SCH/2019/05.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Highlights
• Dye-sensitized solar cells with TiO2 submicron size sphere photoanode were studied.
• Cells with TiO2 P25 particle/nanorod double layer showed efficiency of 7.03%.
• Cells with TiO2 P25 particle/submicron sphere anode showed efficiency of 7.38%.
• Higher efficiency was attributed to enhanced light absorption by scattering.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dissanayake, M.A.K.L., Senthuran, S. & Senadeera, G.K.R. Efficiency enhancement in dye-sensitized solar cells using hierarchical TiO2 submicron size spheres as a light scattering layer. J Solid State Electrochem 24, 2261–2269 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-020-04727-7
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-020-04727-7