Enhancement in photoelectric conversion properties of the dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells based on the hybrid TiO2 electrode

A hybrid TiO2 electrode containing a sputter-deposited layer and a nanocrystalline layer was fabricated on a conducting glass by dc magnetron sputtering and the doctor blade technique, respectively. The sputter-deposited layer (20-40 nm) fabricated at 100-250 degreesC is found to be outstanding for improving the performance of the dye-sensitized solar cells. In this case, a high solar-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of 8.1%, larger short-circuit photocurrent of 20.8 mA/cm(2), and open-circuit voltage of 682 mV were attained under irradiation of white light (98 mW/cm(2)). Compared with the pure nanocrystalline electrodes, this hybrid has an improvement of one time in short-circuit current density and nearly one-third in open-circuit voltage. These suggest that this hybrid electrode has a potential for improving the performance of the dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells. (C) 2004 The Electrochemical Society.