Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is receiving increasing attention as low-cost photovoltaic device. The DSSC has a nanoporous TiO_2 electrode made by sintering a TiO_2 paste applied on a conductive glass plate at 450-550°C. To improve the performance of the TiO_2 electrode, we have developed surface treatment of the TiO_2 electrode using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). The DBD treatment improves the energy conversion efficiency, η, of DSSC by a factor of 1.1. In addition, the DBD treatment has an effect of lowering the sintering temperature, T_s, of TiO_2 paste. Without the DBD treatment, η decreases with Ts and becomes 0% for Ts ≤ 300°C. On the other hand, with the DBD treatment, η = 0.8_(η0) for Ts = 300°C and η = 0.3 η_0 for Ts = 150°C, where η_0 is the energy conversion efficiency for DSSC sintered at 450°C without the DBD treatment. The DBD treatment is also applied to plastic substrate DSSC in addition to the glass substrate DSSC. However, the DBD treatment causes damage to the TiO_2 electrode and cannot be applied to the plastic substrate DSSC. More moderate DBD treatment is required for the plastic substrate DSSC to avoid the damage on the TiO_2 electrode.
展开▼
