TiO2 blocking layer incorporated TiO2/In2O3-based photoanode for DSSC application

On the compact layer of TiO2, a TiO2/In2O3 photoanode was introduced to improve the performance of the TiO2/In2O3 photoanode-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). A compact TiO2 (c-TiO2) thin films were synthesized using the chemical bath deposition (CBD) method, and a p-TiO2/In2O3 photoactive layer was deposited using the economical doctor blade method. The inherent porosity observed in the fabricated films indicates a higher propensity for adsorption of additional dye molecules. We use N3 dye to sensitize all the photoanodes. The photovoltaic properties of the deposited TiO2 compact layer incorporated TiO2/In2O3-based photoanode were compared to those of c-TiO2/p-TiO2 and p-TiO2/In2O3 photoanodes. DSSCs based on the TiO2 compact layer incorporated into the TiO2/In2O3-based photoanode exhibit an J(sc) of 5.01 mA/cm(2), a V-oc of 0.59 V, a resistance of 222 ohm, and an FF of 0.42 with an energy conversion efficiency (eta) of 1.32% at the optimal condition. It shows improved performance compared to DSSCs based only on p-TiO2/In2O3 photoanodes, which shows an J(sc) of 2.5 mA/cm(2), V-oc of 0.54 V, a resistance of 231.02 ohm, and FF of 0.54 with a value of 0.78%, and DSSCs based on c-TiO2/p-TiO2 photoanodes, which exhibit an J(sc) of 1.6 mA/cm(2), a V-oc of 0.56 V, a resistance of a 275.85 ohm and a FF of 0.56 with a eta value of 0.48%. As a result, we conclude that c-TiO2/TiO2/In2O3 photoanode-based DSSCs show superior performance than p-TiO2/In2O3 and c-TiO2/p-TiO2-based DSSCs. Incorporating a TiO2 compact layer has the potential to improve the device's efficiency by over 0.41% under a specific solar condition. Significant enhancements in power energy conversion efficiency (PCE) were observed, with an increase of 0.84% compared to devices utilizing c-TiO2/p-TiO2 photoanodes and a further increase of 0.54% compared to devices utilizing p-TiO2/In2O3 photoanodes.