Characteristics of the dye-sensitized solar cells using TiO2 nanotubes treated with TiCl4

Abstract

The replacement of oxide semiconducting TiO2 nano particles with one dimensional TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs) has been used for improving the electron transport in the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Although use of one dimensional structure provides the enhanced photoelectrical performance, it tends to reduce the adsorption of dye on the TiO2 surface due to decrease of surface area. To overcome this problem, we investigate the effects of TiCl4 treatment on DSSCs which were constructed with composite films made of TiO2 nanoparticles and TNTs. To find optimum condition of TNTs concentration in TiO2 composites film, series of DSSCs with different TNTs concentration were made. In this optimum condition (DSSCs with 10 wt% of TNT), the effects of post treatment are compared for different TiCl4 concentrations. The results show that the DSSCs using a TiCl4 (90 mM) post treatment shows a maximum conversion efficiency of 7.83% due to effective electron transport and enhanced adsorption of dye on TiO2 surface. © 2014 by the authors.