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Improved efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cell via surface modification of TiO2 photoelectrode by spray pyrolysis

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Abstract

Pure TiO2 and surface-modified TiO2 (SMT) films have been developed using zinc acetate solution on fluorine-doped SnO2 (FTO) substrates via spray pyrolysis technique for the application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). X-ray diffraction (XRD) profiles indicate that pure TiO2 and SMT exhibit the same crystal structure. Optical absorption studies reveal that there is no significant absorption difference between SMT and pure TiO2. Impedance measurements show that ZnO layer-covered TiO2 nanoparticles particularly increase the impedance and also suppress the reverse transmission of photo-induced electrons ejected from SMT electrode to the electrolyte. Surface morphological and elemental studies have been performed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) respectively. The photoelectrochemical (J–V curves) values of DSSCs for pure TiO2 and SMT thin films have been compared. The results show that the photoelectric current (JSC) of pure TiO2 increased from 16.73 to 18.09 mA cm−2. Additionally, open-circuit voltage (VOC) of DSSCs containing SMT thin films appreciably changed from 0.71 to 0.75 V. This indicates that the ZnO layer on TiO2 nanoparticles contributes to the surface resistance, which impedes the flow of back-scattered electrons to the electrolyte significantly. The incident light conversion into power efficiency of the DSSCs has been increased from 8.25 to 9.3%.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by JSPS, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (21560325).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering, Graduate School of Integrated Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, Japan, 3-5-1 Johoku, Hamamatsu, 432-8011, Japan

    Varishetty Madhu Mohan & Kenji Murakam

  2. Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Campus, Ongole, 523001, Andhra Pradesh, India

    Varishetty Madhu Mohan

  3. Indian Institute of Science , Bangalore, 560012, Karnataka, India

    Madhavi Jonnalagadda

  4. Department of Physics, School of Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Tadepalligudem, 534146, Andhra Pradesh, India

    V. R. Machavaram

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  1. Varishetty Madhu Mohan
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  2. Kenji Murakam
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  3. Madhavi Jonnalagadda
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  4. V. R. Machavaram
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Correspondence to Varishetty Madhu Mohan.

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Madhu Mohan, V., Murakam, K., Jonnalagadda, M. et al. Improved efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cell via surface modification of TiO2 photoelectrode by spray pyrolysis. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 18231–18239 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-06366-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-06366-8

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