Electrodeposition of TiO_2/SiO_2 nanocomposite for dye-sensitized solar cell

摘要

For the working electrode of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC), TiO_2/SiO_2 nanocomposite materials were electrodeposited on transparent fluorine doped tin oxide-coated glass by cathodic electrodeposition at room temperature. The electrode and DSC fabricated with TiO_2/SiO_2 nanocomposite were characterized with photocurrent density, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and a photovoltaic performance test. On the electrodeposition, the addition of an appropriate amount of SiO_2 in the bath containing TiO_2 slurry was essential to achieve the superior crystallinity, photocurrent density and photovoltaic performance of the resulting TiO_2/SiO_2 electrode, which was significantly superior to a bare TiO_2 electrode. This enhanced performance of optimized TiO_2/SiO_2 electrode was ascribed to the role of SiO_2 as an energy barrier, increasing the physical separation of injected electrons and oxidized dyes/redox couple, and thereby retarding the recombination reactions in the resulting DSC.