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A novel heterostructure of Cr-doped TiO2 for reducing the recombination rate of dye sensitized solar cells

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Abstract

According to reports, a unique method to improve the efficiency of titanium dioxide (TiO2) dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) involves inserting foreign ions into the material’s lattice structure before forming the heterostructure. The sol–gel technique has been used to produce films of TiO2, Cr–TiO2, TiO2@Cr–TiO2, and Cr–TiO2@TiO2. A small quantity of rutile phase with the anatase phase was observed in heterostructures, and XRD validated the anatase phase of pure Cr–TiO2@TiO2, which contains a large grain size (46 nm). SEM presents numerous well-formed, homogenous grains in the structure of Cr–TiO2@TiO2, providing a large surface area for dye loading in DSSCs. Among all samples, Cr–TiO2@TiO2 exhibits a small band gap (Eg) (3.2 eV), and high transmittance in the visible spectrum has been observed by UV–Vis spectroscopy. The Cr–TiO2@TiO2 cell demonstrates high Jsc (7.69 mA-cm−2), Voc (0.79 V), and efficiency (4.57%). The small recombination resistance, verified from EIS, is responsible for this high efficiency.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2024R11), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University (KKU) for funding this research through the Research Group Program Under the Grant Number: (R.G.P.1/431/44).

Funding

This research was funded by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2024R11), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, The University of Lahore, Lahore, 53700, Pakistan

    Muhammad Ilyas Yasin, M. I. Khan, Shamsa Kanwal &  Ihtisham-ul-haq

  2. Acadiana, Crime Laboratory, Louisiana, LA, USA

    Muhammad Ilyas Yasin

  3. Department of Physics, College of Science, Qassim University, Buraidah, 51452, Saudi Arabia

    Dalil Bulayis N. ALResheedi & Mahvish Fatima

  4. Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, 11671, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Norah Alwadai

  5. Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, 61413, Abha, Saudi Arabia

    El Sayed Yousef

  6. Physics Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P. O. Box 9004, Abha, Saudi Arabia

    El Sayed Yousef

  7. Department of Chemistry, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan

    Munawar Iqbal

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  1. Muhammad Ilyas Yasin
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Yasin, M.I., Khan, M.I., Kanwal, S. et al. A novel heterostructure of Cr-doped TiO2 for reducing the recombination rate of dye sensitized solar cells. J. Korean Ceram. Soc. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43207-024-00391-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43207-024-00391-z

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