Evaluating the Critical Thickness of TiO2 Layer on Insulating Mesoporous Templates for Efficient Current Collection in Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells. (15th January 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chandiran, Aravind Kumar; Comte, Pascal; Humphry‐Baker, Robin; Kessler, Florian; Yi, Chenyi; Nazeeruddin, Md. Khaja; Grätzel, Michael
• Is Part Of: Advanced functional materials. Volume 23:Number 21(2013)
• Page Start: 2775
• Page End: 2781
• Publication Date: 2013-01-15
• Subjects: Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201202956
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1616-301X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>In this paper, a way of utilizing thin and conformal overlayer of titanium dioxide on an insulating mesoporous template as a photoanode for dye‐sensitized solar cells is presented. Different thicknesses of TiO₂ ranging from 1 to 15 nm are deposited on the surface of the template by atomic layer deposition. This systematic study helps unraveling the minimum critical thickness of the TiO₂ overlayer required to transport the photogenerated electrons efficiently. A merely 6‐nm‐thick TiO₂ film on a 3‐μm mesoporous insulating substrate is shown to transport 8 mA/cm² of photocurrent density along with ≈900 mV of open‐circuit potential when using our standard donor‐π‐acceptor sensitizer and Co(bipyridine) redox mediator.</p> </abstract>