Novel photoanode architecture for optimal dye-sensitized solar cell performance and its small cell module study

Abstract

The present study demonstrates a novel photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) that consists of a top active layer (18 nm TiO₂ with N719) developed over a scattering layer (200 nm TiO₂) to promote improved usage of sunlight for conversion into electricity. Cell (D-2) with this novel photoanode exhibited improved incident photon-to-current-conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 76% and efficiency of 9.61% compared with the standard photoanode D-1 cell, revealing 72% IPCE and 8.72% efficiency. A fraction of transmitting light through the scattering layer strikes dye molecules of the top active layer for generating additional electrons with similar means to the bottom active layer (18 nm TiO₂ with N719). A silver grid stripe-type small DSSC module was fabricated with the proposed architecture photoanode with 8.64 cm² active area that realized a 5.64% efficiency. The present study revealed that the novel architecture photoanode DSSC offers improved power conversion performance and has potential to become an architecture for DSSC applications.