Issue 57, 2015

Toward elevated light harvesting: efficient dye-sensitized solar cells with titanium dioxide/silica photoanodes

Abstract

Pursuit of light harvesting is a persistent objective for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Here we report the synthesis of titanium dioxide/silica (TiO2/SiO2) nanocrystallite photoanodes, aiming at elevating the light harvesting for dye excitation. Due to light interference effect of the reflected light beams from TiO2/SiO2 and SiO2/electrolyte interfaces, the dye excitation and therefore the photocurrent density are markedly enhanced. The photovoltaic performances of the resultant DSSCs are optimized by utilizing three TiO2/SiO2 photoanodes from different synthetic strategies. A maximum power conversion efficiency of 8.56% is measured under simulated air mass 1.5 global sunlight in comparison with 7.06% from pristine TiO2 based DSSC. The high power conversion efficiency in combination with simple preparation demonstrates the potential for utilization of TiO2/SiO2 nanocrystallite anodes in efficient DSSCs.

Graphical abstract: Toward elevated light harvesting: efficient dye-sensitized solar cells with titanium dioxide/silica photoanodes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Apr 2015
Accepted
30 Apr 2015
First published
30 Apr 2015

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 46260-46266

Author version available

Toward elevated light harvesting: efficient dye-sensitized solar cells with titanium dioxide/silica photoanodes

P. Yang, Q. Tang and B. He, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 46260 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA06584D

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