Abstract :
For the working electrode of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC), TiO2/SiO2 nanocomposite materials were electrodeposited on transparent
fluorine doped tin oxide-coated glass by cathodic electrodeposition at room temperature. The electrode and DSC fabricated with
TiO2/SiO2 nanocomposite were characterized with photocurrent density, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron
microscopy (FE-SEM) and a photovoltaic performance test. On the electrodeposition, the addition of an appropriate amount of
SiO2 in the bath containing TiO2 slurry was essential to achieve the superior crystallinity, photocurrent density and photovoltaic performance
of the resulting TiO2/SiO2 electrode, which was significantly superior to a bare TiO2 electrode. This enhanced performance of
optimized TiO2/SiO2 electrode was ascribed to the role of SiO2 as an energy barrier, increasing the physical separation of injected electrons
and oxidized dyes/redox couple, and thereby retarding the recombination reactions in the resulting DSC.
2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
