Decoupling Crystallinity and Size of TiO2 Nanoparticles of TiO2: Application in Large Area Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

摘要

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted great attention in recent years as a potential alternative to conventional silicon solar cells. However, a lot of current research is still focusing on enhancing their efficiency through the individual improvement of the DSSCs components, as well as their integration. Among these components, mesoporous TiO_2 plays an important role in the cell photoanodc. Achieving well-crystallized small nanoparticles usually requires a room temperature synthesis, giving very small crystallites (4-10 nm) of TiO_2 anatase. As as-synthesized materials contain hydration water, a major drawback in DSSCs, we report how dehydration and crystallinity can be improved by annealing at a moderate temperature, without any sintering or significant particle coarsening. We report in this study a comprehensive study of the cell assembling, and its efficiency, characterized under AM 1.5 illumination with 100 mw/cm~2 light intensity.