Application of doped rare-earth oxide TiO2:(Tm3+, Yb3+) in dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Tm3+ and Yb3+ are codoped into TiO2 film in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The emission and excitation spectra of TiO2:(Tm3+, Yb3+) power shows that the rare-earth ions possess up-conversion luminescence function, which results in harvesting more incident light and increasing photocurrent for the DSSC. On the other hand, owing to the p-type doping effect by Tm3+ and Yb 3+, the photovoltage of the DSSC is enhanced. Under a simulated solar light irradiation of 100 mW·cm-2, a DSSC containing Tm 3+/Yb3+ achieves a conversion efficiency of 7.05 %, which is increased by 10.0% compared with a DSSC lacking Tm3+/Yb 3+.