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Enhanced light harvesting of dye-sensitized solar cells with TiO2 microspheres as light scattering layer

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Abstract

Two kinds of TiO2 microspheres (TMS) with average diameter of 1500 nm but different surface were fabricated by solvothermal method from different Ti source. The effect of TMS on the light harvesting and photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)was investigated. The UV–Vis diffusion reflectance spectra and absorption spectra of N719 dye in detached solutions proved that the TMS showed dual functions of light scattering and dye-adsorption which was an important functional material in DSSCs. The results showed that the TMS made from titanium(IV) isopropoxide with rough surface (TMSR) exhibited better photovoltaic performance than that of TMS made from tetrabutyl titanate with smooth surface (TMSS). To further improve the photovoltaic performance, the double-layered DSSCs made of P25 as an underlayer and TMS as a light-scattering layer (P25-TMS) were fabricated. The photovoltaic performance of double-layered DSSCs was higher than that of the single-layered DSSCs with similar thickness. Especially, the DSSCs made of P25 as an underlayer and the TMSR as a light-scattering layer (P25-TMSR) had a highest power conversion efficiency of 7.62%. This was higher than that of single-layered TMSR-based cell (5.54%), P25-based cell (5.75%), and double-layered P25-TMSS-based cell (6.78%) with similar thickness. This was mainly attributed to the large specific surface area, superior light scattering ability, and fast electron transport of TMSR.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support of this work was provided by Innovative Research Team of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University(15010039-Y), Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LZ16E020002), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (51402260).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials and Textiles, Zhejiang Sci–Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Yingli Guan, Lixin Song, Yangyang Zhou, Xin Yin, Xueyao Xie & Jie Xiong

  2. Key Laboratory of Advanced Textile Materials and Manufacturing Technology of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang Sci–Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Yingli Guan, Lixin Song, Yangyang Zhou, Xin Yin, Xueyao Xie & Jie Xiong

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  1. Yingli Guan
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  2. Lixin Song
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Correspondence to Lixin Song or Jie Xiong.

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Guan, Y., Song, L., Zhou, Y. et al. Enhanced light harvesting of dye-sensitized solar cells with TiO2 microspheres as light scattering layer. Appl. Phys. A 123, 193 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-0764-1

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