Electrospray Coating of a TiO2 Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by a Post-Treatment Method

Abstract

A mesoporous TiO2 photo-electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was fabricated by an electrospray method using a solution of dispersed TiO2 nanocrystals (P25). A mesoporous TiO2 disk has a larger surface area than P25. The sub micrometer-sized TiO2 disk promotes light scattering, thereby increasing the photocurrent conversion efficiency. However, the electrosprayed TiO2 electrodes have many pores and disconnected electron pathways. Thus, we investigated the enhanced electrical contact of an electrosprayed TiO2 electrode using a hot-pressing process and a titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) treatment process. After optimizing the post-treatment process of an electrosprayed TiO2 electrode, the cell shows conversion efficiency up to 6% at standard sunlight of AM 1.5.