Effect of large TiO2 Nanoparticles as Light Scatter in Matrix of Small Nanoparticles to Improve the Efficiency in Dye- Sensitized Solar Cell

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Institute of Nano Science and Nano Technology, University of Kashan, Kashan, I.R. Iran.

2 Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Kashan, I.R. Iran.

3 Department of Physical Chemistry, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Research Center of Iran, Tehran, I.R. Iran.

10.7508/jns.2011.02.007

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the effect of using large TiO2 nanoparticles in the matrix of small nanoparticles to improve the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), as light scatter to increase the light harvesting. The mixed powder was deposited by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) on FTO (F-SnO2 coated glass). It is shown that adding small quantity of larger nanoparticles can enhance the performance of DSSCs. This paper also studies the deferential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of mixed powders to detect the phase transitions, due to the change of weight percentage between large and small nanoparticles.

Keywords

References

[1] X. Z. Li, H. Liu, L. F. Cheng, H. J. Tong, Environ Sci Technol, 17 (2003) 3989.
[2] S.J. Bu, Z.G. Jin, X.X. Liu, L.R. Yang, Z.J. Cheng, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 25 (2005) 673.
[3] M. Wark, J. Tschirch, O. Bartels, D. Bahnemann, J. Rathousky´ , Microporous Mesoporous Mater. 84 (2005) 247.
[4] M. Nag, P. Basak, S.V. Manorama, Mater. Res. Bull. 42 (2007) 1691.
[5] T. Van Gestel, C. Vandecasteele, A. Buekenhoudt, C. Dotremont, J. Luyten, R. Leysen, B. Van der Bruggen, G. Maes, J. Membr. Sci. 209 (2002) 379.
[6] U. Aust, S. Benfer, M. Dietze, A. Rost, G. Tomandl, J. Membr. Sci. 281 (2006) 463.
[7] K. M. Lee, V. Suryanarayanan, K.-C. Ho, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 91 (2007)
1416.
[8] C.T. Kresge, M.E. Leonowicz, W.J. Roth, J.C. Vartulli, J.S. Beck, Nature 359 (1992) 710.
[9] L.Y. Zheng, M.X. Xu, T.X. Xu, Sens. Actuator B 66 (2000) 28.
[10] H. Tai, Y. Jiang, G. Xie, J. Yu, X. Chen, Sens. Actuator B: Chem. 125 (2007) 644.
[11] A.K. Alves, F.A. Berutti, F.J. Clemens, T. Graule, C.P. Bergmann, Materials Research Bulletin 44 (2009) 312.
[12] B. O'Regan, M. Grätzel, Nature. 353 (1991) 737.
[13] P. Ball, Nature 377 (1995) 290.
[14] Z. Ma, S. Brown, S.H. Overbury, S. Dai, Appl. Catal. A: Gen. 327 (2007) 226.
[15] Chang H, Chen T L, Huang K D, Chien S H and Hung K C,  Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 504S (2010) S435.
[16] Tirosh S, Dittrich T, Ofir A, Grinis L and  Zaban A, J. Phys. Chem. B 110 (2006) 16165.
[17] H.J. Snaith,, Adv. Funct. Mater. 20 (2010) 13.
[18] Kroon J M, Bakker N J, Smit H J P, Liska P, Thampi K R, Wang P, Zakeeruddin S M, Gratzel M, Hinsch A, Hore S, Wurfel U, Sastrawan R, Durrant J R, Palomares E, Pettersson H, Gruszecki T, Walter J, Skupien K and Tulloch G E, Prog. Photovolt: Res. Appl. 15 (2007) 1.
[19] Hagfeldt A, Boschloo G, Sun L, Kloo L and Pettersson H, Chem. Rev. 110 (2010) 6595.
[20] Wang Q, Moser J E and Gratzel M,  J. Phys. Chem. B. 109 (2005) 14945.
[21] H. J. Koo, J. Park, B. Yoo, K. Yoo, K. Kim, N. G. Park, Inorganica Chimica Acta 361 (2008) 677.
[22] K. Zhu, N. Kopidakis, N. R. Neale, J. van de Lagemaat, A. J. Frank, J. Phys. Chem. B 110 (2006) 25174.
[23] T. H. Meen, W. Water, W. R. Chen, S. M. Chao, L. W. Ji, C. J. Huang, Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids 70 (2009) 472.
[24] F. Huang, D. Chen, X. Li. Zhang, R. A. Caruso, Y. B. Cheng, Adv. Funct. Mater. 20 (2010) 1301.
[25] J. Ferber, J. Luther, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 54 (1998) 265.
[26] Z.-S. Wang, H. Kawauchi, T. Kashima, H. Arakawa, Coord. Chem. Rev. 248 (2004) 1381.
[27] S. Hore, P. Nitz, C. Vetter, C. Prahl, M. Niggemann, R. Kern, Chem.Commun. 15 (2005) 2011.
[28] J.-H. Yoon, S.-R. Jang, R. Vittal, J. Lee, K.-J. Kim, J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 180 (2006) 184.
[29] S. Hore, C. Vetter, R. Kern, H. Smit, A. Hinsch, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, 90 (2006) 1176.
[30] H. C. van de Hulst, Light Scattering by Small Particles,Wiley, New York 1957.
[31] L. Grinis, S. Dor, A. Ofir, A. Zaban, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry 198 (2008) 52.
Journal of Nanostructures
Volume 1, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
April 2011
Pages 139-143

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics