Abstract
Here, we investigate the effect of crystalline structure and design configuration of photoanode semiconductor on physical properties and electron transport parameters of dye-sensitized solar cells based on niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) composition. At the first step, the effect of calcination on structural properties of Nb2O5 has been studied. Phase transformation from mixed monoclinic/orthorhombic to pure monoclinic phase has been observed. The performance of cells is then investigated for different designs of photoanode, including pure Nb2O5, pure TiO2 and bilayer structure composed of TiO2/calcined Nb2O5. The highest performance belonged to the cell prepared bilayer photoanode. Bilayer structure facilitated charge extraction which leads to the drastically improvement of photoconversion efficiency. Remarkable increase in JSC is reported comparing to cells without TiO2 layer, from about 0.08 to around 5.7 mA cm−2, leading to conversion efficiency as high as 1.48% in the best cell. Results of dye loading measurement and impedance spectroscopy analysis revealed that this higher photocurrent is attributed to both more injected electrons from dye to photoanode and higher electron lifetime. Furthermore, inhibition of electron back-transfer from the composite layer to the electrolyte as well as low recombination resistance plays critical roles in such dramatically photoconversion efficiency.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B. O’Regan, M. Gräzel, A low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO2 films. Nature 353, 737–739 (1991)
M. Grätzel, Photoelectrochemical cells. Nature 414, 338–344 (2001)
N.A. Karim, U. Mehmood, H. Zahid, T. Asif, Nanostructured photoanode and counter electrode materials for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Sol. Energy 185, 165–188 (2019)
R. Jose, V. Thavasi, S. Ramakrishna, Metal oxides for dye-sensitized solar cells. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 92, 289–301 (2009)
C. Cavallo, F. Di Pascasio, A. Latini, M. Bonomo, D. Dini, Nanostructured semiconductor materials for dye-sensitized solar cells. J. Nanomater. 2017, 5323164 (2017)
D. Sengupta, P. Das, B. Mondal, K. Mukherjee, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 60, 356–376 (2016)
R. Milan, G.S. Selopal, M. Epifani, M.M. Natile, G. Sberveglieri, A. Vomiero, I. Concina, ZnO@ SnO2 engineered composite photoanodes for dye sensitized solar cells. Sci. Rep. 5, 14523 (2015)
T. Chen, Y. Shang, Sh Hao, L. Tian, Y. Hou, Ch. Yang, Electrochim. Acta. 282, 743–749 (2018)
H. Sun, H. Kurotaki, K. Kanomata, F. Hirose, M.S. White, T. Yoshida, ZnO/TiO2 core–shell photoelectrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells by screen printing and room temperature ALD. Microsyst. Technol. 24, 647–654 (2018)
A. Pang, X. Sun, H. Ruan, Y. Li, S. Dai, M. Wei, Highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells composed of TiO2@ SnO2 core–shell microspheres. Nano Energy 5, 82–90 (2014)
Y. Zhao, X. Zhou, L. Ye, S.C.E. Tsang, Nanostructured Nb2O5 catalysts. Nano Rev. 3, 17631 (2012)
A. Latini, R. Panetta, Energies 11, 975 (2018)
A. Le Viet, R. Jose, M.V. Reddy, B.V.R. Chowdari, S. Ramakrishna, J. Phys. Chem. C 114, 21795–21800 (2010)
M.H. Habibi, R. Mokhtari, J. Inorg. Organomet. Polym. 22, 158–165 (2012)
C.L. Ücker, L.T. Gularte, C.D. Fernandes, V. Goetzke, E.C. Moreira, C.W. Raubach, M.L. Moreira, S.S. Cava, Investigation of the properties of niobium pentoxide for use in dye-sensitized solar cells. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 102, 1884–1892 (2016)
A.M. Rabaa, J. Bautista-Ruíza, M.R. Joya, Mater. Res. 19, 1381–1387 (2016)
V. Ojha, K. Kato, M.A. Kabbani, G. Babu, P.M. Ajayan, Nb2O5/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite anode for high power hybrid supercapacitor applications. Chem. Select. 4, 1098–1102 (2019)
X. Wang, Q. Li, L. Zhang, Z. Hu, L. Yu, T. Jiang, C. Lu, C. Yan, J. Sun, Z. Liu, Caging Nb2O5 nanowires in PECVD-derived graphene capsules toward bendable sodium-ion hybrid supercapacitors. Adv. Mater. 30, 1800963 (2018)
G. Falk, M. Borlaf, M.J. López-Muñoz, J.C. Fariñas, J.B.R. Neto, R. Moreno, Microwave-assisted synthesis of Nb2O5 for photocatalytic application of nanopowders and thin films. J. Mater. Res. 32, 3271–3278 (2017)
R. Rathnasamy, P. Thangasamy, V. Aravindhan, P. Sathyanarayanan, V. Alagan, Facile one-pot solvothermal-assisted synthesis of uniform sphere-like Nb2O5 nanostructures for photocatalytic applications. Res. Chem. Intermed. 45, 3571–3584 (2019)
D.C. Castro, R.P. Cavalcante, J. Jorge, M.A.U. Martines, L.C.S. Oliveira, G.A. Casagrande, A. Machulek Jr., J. Braz. Chem. Soc. 27, 303–313 (2016)
M.M. Qadir, Y. Li, A. Biesiekierski, C. Wen, Optimized fabrication and characterization of TiO2–Nb2O5–ZrO2 nanotubes on β-phase TiZr35Nb28 alloy for biomedical applications via the Taguchi method. ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng. 5, 2750–2761 (2019)
P. Amaravathy, S. Sowndarya, S. Sathyanarayanan, N. Rajendran, Novel sol gel coating of Nb2O5 on magnesium alloy for biomedical applications. Surf. Coat. Technol. 244, 131–141 (2014)
M. Kalisz, M. Grobelny, M. Mazur, M. Zdrojek, D. Wojcieszak, M. Świniarski, J. Judek, D. Kaczmarek, Thin Solid Films 589, 356–363 (2012)
Z. Wang, J. Lou, X. Zheng, W.-H. Zhang, Y. Qin, Solution Processed Nb2O5 Electrodes for High Efficient Ultraviolet Light Stable Planar Perovskite Solar Cells. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 7, 7421–7429 (2019)
B. Gu, Y. Zhu, H. Lu, W. Tian, L. Li, Sol. Energy 166, 187–194 (2018)
S. Suresh, G.E. Unni, M. Satyanarayana, A.S. Nair, V.P.M. Pillai, Electrochimica Acta 289, 1–12 (2018)
S. Suresh, G.E. Unni, M. Satyanarayana, A.S. Nair, V.P.M. Pillai, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 524, 236–244 (2018)
S. Suresh, G.E. Unni, C. Ni, R.S. Sreedharan, R.R. Krishnan, M. Satyanarayana, M. Shanmugam, V.P.M. Pillai, Appl. Surf. Sci. 419, 720–732 (2017)
A. Sacco, M.S.D. Bella, M. Gerosa, A. Chiodoni, S. Bianco, M. Mosca, R. Macaluso, C. Cali, C.F. Pirri, Thin Solid Films 574, 38 (2015)
J. Xia, N. Masaki, K. Jiang, S. Yanagida, J. Phys. Chem. C 111, 8092 (2007)
J. Kim, J. Kim, J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 11, 7335–7338 (2011)
Hu Xiaoyan, H. Wang, ZnO/Nb2O5 core/shell nanorod array photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells. Front. Optoelectron. 11, 285–290 (2018)
N.I. Beedri, P.K. Baviskar, V.P. Bhalekar, C.V. Jagtap, A.M. Asiri, S.R. Jadkar, H.M. Pathan, Phys. Status Solidi A 215, 1800236 (2018)
J. Nguu, F. Nyongesa, R. Musembi, B. Aduda, J. Mater. Phys. Chem. 6, 1–8 (2018)
N.I. Beedri, P.K. Baviskar, A.T. Supekar, S.R. Jadkar, H.M. Pathan, Bilayered ZnO/Nb2O5 photoanode for dye sensitized solar cell. Int. J. Modern Phys. B 32, 1840046 (2018)
L. Chu, W. Liu, Yu. Aiai, Z. Qin, R. Hu, H. Shu, Q.-P. Luo, Y. Min, J. Yang, X.A. Li, Sol. Energy 153, 584–589 (2017)
S. Ito, T.N. Murakami, P. Comte, P. Liska, C. Grätzel, M.K. Nazeeruddin, M. Grätzel, Fabrication of thin film dye sensitized solar cells with solar to electric power conversion efficiency over 10%. Thin Solid Films 516, 4613–4619 (2008)
S. Ito, P. Chen, P. Comte, M.K. Nazeeruddin, P. Liska, P. Pechy, M. Gratzel, Prog. Photovolt: Res. Appl. 15, 603–612 (2007)
Y. Meng, Y. Lin, Y. Lin, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 24, 5117–5121 (2013)
W. Li, R. Liang, A. Hu, Z. Huang, Y.N. Zhou, Generation of oxygen vacancies in visible light activated one-dimensional iodine TiO 2 photocatalysts. RSC Adv. 4, 36959 (2014)
L. Lutterotti, Maud version 2.8, %3chttps://www.ing.unitn.it/maud/%3e (2018)
S.R. Aghdaee, V. Soleimanian, Anisotropic line broadening in nanocrystalline cadmium sulfide prepared by hydrothermal reaction. J. Cryst. Growth 341, 66–71 (2012)
S.L. Wang, P.G. Li, H.W. Zhu, W.H. Tang, Controllable synthesis and photocatalytic property of uniform CuO/Cu2O composite hollow microspheres. Powder Technol. 230, 48–53 (2012)
V. Venkatramu, M. Giarola, G. Mariotto, S. Enzo, S. Polizzi, C.K. Jayasankar, F. Piccinelli, M. Bettinelli, A. Speghini, Nanocrystalline lanthanide-doped Lu3Ga5O12 garnets: interesting materials for light-emitting devices. Nanotechnology 21, 175703 (2010)
S. Sain, S. Patra, S.K. Pradhan, Quickest ever single-step mechanosynthesis of Cd0.5 Zn0.5 S quantum dots: nanostructure and optical characterizations. Mater. Res. Bull. 47, 1062–1072 (2012)
Q. Wali, Z.H. Bakr, N.A. Manshor, A. Fakharuddin, R. Jose, Sol. Energy 132, 395–404 (2016)
X. Jin, C. Liu, Xu Jing, Q. Wang, Di Chen, Size-controlled synthesis of mesoporous Nb2O5 microspheres for dye sensitized solar cells. RSC Adv. 4, 35546–35553 (2014)
N. Memarian, I. Concina, A. Braga, S.M. Rozati, A. Vomiero, G. Sberveglieri, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 50, 12321–12325 (2011)
M.S. Akhtar, A facile synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles and its application as photoanode for dye sensitized solar cells. Sci. Adv. Mater. 7, 1137–1142 (2015)
S.K. Hau, H.-L. Yip, O. Acton, N.S. Baek, H. Maa, A.K.-Y. Jen, Interfacial modification to improve inverted polymer solar cells. J. Mater. Chem. 18, 5113–5119 (2008)
C.M. Proctor, T.-Q. Nguyen, Effect of leakage current and shunt resistance on the light intensity dependence of organic solar cells. Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 083301 (2015)
R.-Y. Yang, H.-Y. Chen, F.-D. Lai, Performance degradation of dye-sensitized solar cells induced by electrolytes. Adv. Mater. Sci. Eng. 902146, 4 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/902146
C.S. Rusche, F.P. Gasparin, E.R. Costa, A. Krenzinger, Sol. Energy 133, 35–43 (2016)
K. Subalakshmi, J. Senthilselvan, Sol. Energy 171, 914–928 (2018)
G.S. Selopal, N. Memarian, R. Milan, I. Concina, G. Sberveglieri, A. Vomiero, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 6, 11236–11244 (2014)
X. Liu, R. Yuan, Y. Liu, S. Zhu, J. Lin, X. Chen, Niobium pentoxide nanotube powder for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. New J. Chem. 40, 6276–6280 (2016)
Acknowledgements
The authors want to gratefully acknowledge Dr. Hamid Meghdadi neyshabori from department of electrical engineering (Semnan University) for his fruitful discussion on EIS data analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Memari, M., Memarian, N. Designed structure of bilayer TiO2–Nb2O5 photoanode for increasing the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 31, 2298–2307 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-019-02762-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-019-02762-3