Preparation of TiO2 nanostructures and its plasma coating in the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Physics, Tafresh University, Tafresh, Iran

Abstract

In this research, TiO2 nanostructures were prepared using the hydrothermal method. The aerosol was regenerated from the precursor solution droplets by entering the non-thermal plasma and TiO2 nanostructures were deposited on the surface of the substrate. XRD and SEM analyses have been used to investigate nanostructure morphology. Dye-sensitized solar cells were fabricated using TiO2 nanostructures as a photoanode. The results showed that the surface prepared with TiO2 nanostructures by the hydrothermal method has a higher specific surface area, more pigment absorption, and short circuit current density than the unmodified surface. In addition, the TiO2 photoanode-based pigment solar cell using the hydrothermal method showed a short circuit current density of 21.67 mA/cm2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.67 V, and a photon-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 5.62%, which is about 17% more than the yield obtained. This comes from a solar cell without plasma modification with an efficiency of 5.11%. The increase in efficiency can be attributed to the increase in electrical conductivity in the photoanode, the tight connection of the conductive surface of the anode with the pigment molecules, and the greater contact surface of the photoanode with the electrolyte.

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References

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Progress in Physics of Applied Materials
Volume 5, Issue 1
In progress
November 2025
Pages 11-16

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History

  • Receive Date: 15 September 2024
  • Revise Date: 09 October 2024
  • Accept Date: 16 October 2024

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