Influence of Nitrogen Doping on Device Operation for TiO₂-Based Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: Photo-Physics from Materials to Devices.
Solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (ssDSSC) constitute a major approach to photovoltaic energy conversion with efficiencies over 8% reported thanks to the rational design of efficient porous metal oxide electrodes, organic chromophores, and hole transporters. Among the various strategies used to push the performance ahead, doping of the nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (TiO₂) electrode is regularly proposed to extend the photo-activity of the materials into the visible range. However, although various beneficial effects for device performance have been observed in the literature, they remain strongly dependent on the method used for the production of the metal oxide, and the influence of nitrogen atoms on charge kinetics remains unclear. To shed light on this open question, we synthesized a set of N-doped TiO₂ nanopowders with various nitrogen contents, and exploited them for the fabrication of ssDSSC. Particularly, we carefully analyzed the localization of the dopants using X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) and monitored their influence on the photo-induced charge kinetics probed both at the material and device levels. We demonstrate a strong correlation between the kinetics of photo-induced charge carriers probed both at the level of the nanopowders and at the level of working solar cells, illustrating a direct transposition of the photo-physic properties from materials to devices.
IRAMIS/NIMBE/LEDNA, UMR 3685, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France. 516208050@qq.com.
Jin
J
Wang
Nanoscience Center, Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland. kosti.t.o.tapio@jyu.fi.
Kosti
K
Tapio
IRAMIS/NIMBE/LEDNA, UMR 3685, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France. aurelie.habert@cea.fr.
Aurélie
A
Habert
Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR8000, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France. sebastien.sorgues@u-psud.fr.
Sebastien
S
Sorgues
Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR8000, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France. christophe.colbeau-justin@u-psud.fr.
Christophe
C
Colbeau-Justin
XLIM UMR 7252, Université de Limoges/CNRS, 87060 Limoges Cedex, France. bernard.ratier@unilim.fr.
Bernard
B
Ratier
National Institute for Lasers Plasma and Radiation Physics, P.O. Box MG 36, R-077125 Bucharest, Romania. monica.scarisoreanu@inflpr.ro.
Monica
M
Scarisoreanu
Nanoscience Center, Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland. j.jussi.toppari@jyu.fi.
Jussi
J
Toppari
IRAMIS/NIMBE/LEDNA, UMR 3685, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France. nathalie.herlin@cea.fr.
Nathalie
N
Herlin-Boime
XLIM UMR 7252, Université de Limoges/CNRS, 87060 Limoges Cedex, France. johann.boucle@unilim.fr.
Johann
J
Bouclé
TiO2; nitrogen doping; photo-physics; photo-response; solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells; spiro-OMeTAD