TY - JOUR
T1 - Monolithic Quasi-Solid-State Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Prepared Entirely by Printing Processes
AU - Venkatesan, null
AU - Chiang, Chia Yi
AU - Teng, Hsisheng
AU - Lee, Yuh Lang
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan through grant MOST 108-2221-E-006 -158 -MY3 is acknowledged.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2023/4/3
Y1 - 2023/4/3
N2 - A complete printing process was developed to fabricate the quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with monolithic structures (m-QS-DSSCs). First, a structure of m-DSSCs was constructed by sequentially printing TiO2 layers (main and scattering), a ZrO2 insulating layer, and a carbon counter electrode (CE) onto an FTO substrate (FTO/TiO2/ZrO2/carbon CE). Then, a quasi-solid-state printable electrolyte (QS-PE), prepared using polyethylene oxide/polymethyl methacrylate, was printed directly on top of the porous carbon counter electrode (CE), enabling the m-QS-DSSCs to be prepared entirely by printing processes. In this study, the porous structures and characteristics of the ZrO2 and carbon layers were optimized by controlling the film thicknesses and heat treatment conditions; furthermore, the Pt layer was coated to improve the catalytic activity of carbon CEs. The results revealed that an appropriate porous structure of carbon and ZrO2 films could be obtained by heating the films from 200 to 500 °C. Through these porous layers, the QS-PE can penetrate well into the photoelectrodes, increasing the charge transport in the cells and at the electrode/electrolyte interfaces; therefore, the m-QS-DSSCs can achieve an efficiency of 6.79% under 1 sun illumination. Furthermore, the structures can also be utilized to fabricate liquid cells for application in a dim light environment. The m-QS-DSSCs remained stable during a long-term stability test at room temperature.
AB - A complete printing process was developed to fabricate the quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with monolithic structures (m-QS-DSSCs). First, a structure of m-DSSCs was constructed by sequentially printing TiO2 layers (main and scattering), a ZrO2 insulating layer, and a carbon counter electrode (CE) onto an FTO substrate (FTO/TiO2/ZrO2/carbon CE). Then, a quasi-solid-state printable electrolyte (QS-PE), prepared using polyethylene oxide/polymethyl methacrylate, was printed directly on top of the porous carbon counter electrode (CE), enabling the m-QS-DSSCs to be prepared entirely by printing processes. In this study, the porous structures and characteristics of the ZrO2 and carbon layers were optimized by controlling the film thicknesses and heat treatment conditions; furthermore, the Pt layer was coated to improve the catalytic activity of carbon CEs. The results revealed that an appropriate porous structure of carbon and ZrO2 films could be obtained by heating the films from 200 to 500 °C. Through these porous layers, the QS-PE can penetrate well into the photoelectrodes, increasing the charge transport in the cells and at the electrode/electrolyte interfaces; therefore, the m-QS-DSSCs can achieve an efficiency of 6.79% under 1 sun illumination. Furthermore, the structures can also be utilized to fabricate liquid cells for application in a dim light environment. The m-QS-DSSCs remained stable during a long-term stability test at room temperature.
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U2 - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c00424
DO - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c00424
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85151355606
SN - 2168-0485
VL - 11
SP - 5293
EP - 5302
JO - ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
JF - ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
IS - 13
ER -
