title: Effect of compressed TiO2 nanoparticle thin film thickness on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells.
abstract: In this study, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles as photoanode. Photoanode thin films were prepared by doctor blading method with 420 kg/cm2 of mechanical compression process and heat treatment in the air at 500°C for 30 min. The optimal thickness of the TiO2 NP photoanode is 26.6 μm with an efficiency of 9.01% under AM 1.5G illumination at 100 mW/cm2. The efficiency is around two times higher than that of conventional DSSCs with an uncompressed photoanode. The open-circuit voltage of DSSCs decreases as the thickness increases. One DSSC (sample D) has the highest conversion efficiency while it has the maximum short-circuit current density. The results indicate that the short-circuit current density is a compromise between two conflict factors: enlargement of the surface area by increasing photoanode thickness and extension of the electron diffusion length to the electrode as the thickness increases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, National Formosa University, Yunlin 632, Taiwan. tsaijk@nfu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Jenn Kai
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Wen Dung
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Tian Chiuan
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Teen Hang
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Meen
authors.forename: Wen Jie
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Chong