The real TiO2/HTM interface of solid-state dye solar cells: role of trapped states from a multiscale modelling perspective

Alessio Gagliardi; Matthias Auf der Maur; Desiree Gentilini; Fabio di Fonzo; Agnese Abrusci; Henry J. Snaith; Giorgio Divitini; Caterina Ducati; Aldo Di Carlo

doi:10.1039/C4NR05208K

The real TiO₂/HTM interface of solid-state dye solar cells: role of trapped states from a multiscale modelling perspective†

Alessio Gagliardi,*^a Matthias Auf der Maur,^b Desiree Gentilini,^b Fabio di Fonzo,^c Agnese Abrusci,^d Henry J. Snaith,^d Giorgio Divitini,^e Caterina Ducati^e and Aldo Di Carlo^b

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* Corresponding authors

^a Technische Universität München, Electrical and Computer Eng., Arcisstr. 21, 80333 München, Germany
E-mail: alessio.gagliardi@tum.de

^b University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Via del Politecnico 1, Rome, Italy

^c Center for Nano Science and Technology of IIT@PoliMI, Via Pascoli 70/3, 20133 Milano, Italy

^d University of Oxford, Dep. of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK

^e University of Cambridge, Dep. of Materials Science and Metallurgy, 27 Charles Babbage road, Cambridge CB3 0FS, UK

Abstract

In this paper we present a multiscale simulation of charge transport in a solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell, where the real morphology between TiO₂ and the hole transport material is included. The geometry of the interface is obtained from an electron tomography measurement and imported in a simulation software. Charge distribution, electric field and current densities are computed using the drift-diffusion model. We use this approach to investigate the electrostatic effect of trap states at the interface between the electron and hole transport materials. The simulations show that when the trapped electrons are not screened by external additives, the dynamics of holes is perturbed. Holes accumulate at the interface, enhancing recombination and reducing cell performance.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C4NR05208K
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 08 Sep 2014
Accepted: 15 Nov 2014
First published: 21 Nov 2014
This article is Open Access

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Nanoscale, 2015,7, 1136-1144

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The real TiO₂/HTM interface of solid-state dye solar cells: role of trapped states from a multiscale modelling perspective

A. Gagliardi, M. Auf der Maur, D. Gentilini, F. di Fonzo, A. Abrusci, H. J. Snaith, G. Divitini, C. Ducati and A. Di Carlo, Nanoscale, 2015, 7, 1136 DOI: 10.1039/C4NR05208K

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