Improved charge transport in dye-sensitized solar cells employing viscous non-volatile electrolytes

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employing a viscous non-volatile electrolyte were prepared by utilizing anatase TiO2 nanorods (synthesized via oriented attachment) as a photoanode material. One promising way to enhance the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs employing viscous electrolytes is to increase ion conductivity by increasing the salt concentration. This is accompanied by an acceleration of the charge recombination reaction and the limiting of the overall conversion efficiency. The results showed that a TiO2 nanorod electrode enables more favorable electron transport than a conventional nanoparticle-based electrode due to the improved electron diffusion length and the large intrinsic surface area. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.