Experimental investigation of hydrogen insertion in copper oxide on photovoltaic performance of p-type dye-sensitized solar cell

Hydrogenation of photoanodes has proved to be an effective method to improve performance of n-type dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Based on unfavorable assumptions given by the theoretical simulations, no hydrogenation of photocathodes and its effect on the conversion efficiency of in p-type DSSCs are reported. While the theoretical works have addressed the study of the electronic structure of hydrogenated Cu2O, our experimental work aims to highlight the features of hydrogenated Cu2O/dye interface which are critical in DSSC and still unexplored. We report the beneficial effect of hydrogen in Cu2O on anchoring of the dye leading to an improvement by 98% for J(SC) and thus, improving the solar energy conversion efficiency of p-type DSSC. Even in 2% H-2 atmosphere, the significant increase in J(SC) had demonstrated the suitability of hydrogenation in the case of p-type semiconductors as an effective and low-cost way to augment the efficiency of p-DSSCs.