Chemically tuned, bi-functional polar interlayer for TiO2 photoanodes in fibre-shaped dye-sensitized solar cells. Issue 5 (13th January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ardhi, Ryanda Enggar Anugrah; Tran, Minh Xuan; Wang, Manxiang; Liu, Guicheng; Lee, Joong Kee
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 8:Issue 5(2020)
• Page Start: 2549
• Page End: 2562
• Publication Date: 2020-01-13
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c9ta12118h
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : A polar interlayer is introduced to TiO2 photoanodes as a novel strategy to improve the performance of fibre-shaped dye-sensitized solar cells. Abstract : A novel strategy to improve the performance of fibre-shaped dye-sensitized solar cells (FDSSCs) has been successfully implemented using a polar polymer interlayer made of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEOx). The inclusion of the PEOx interlayer reduces the typical defect sites and interband trap sites that exist on the TiO2 -nanotube-based photoanode of the FDSSC. A local built-in electric field, induced by the interfacial intrinsic polarity of the PEOx interlayer, promotes facile photogenerated charge injection/extraction kinetics at the TiO2 /dye interface. The negative polarity present on the bottom part of the PEOx chain exhibits an electronic doping-like behaviour, passivating the TiO2 defect sites and reducing trap-assisted recombination, while the positive polarity present on the top part of the PEOx chain provides dye-rich anchoring sites to improve the N719 dye adsorption loading on the TiO2 surface. The charge collection efficiency, short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor of FDSSCs with the novel TiO2 @PEOx photoanodes are superior than those of FDSSCs with traditional TiO2 photoanodes, by approximately 16.94%, 8.57%, 14.08%, and 6.58%, respectively. Consequently, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the proposed FDSSC is considerably improved, reaching 11.22%. Thus, the PCE of the proposed FDSSC is improved by approximately 32.16% compared with that of the traditional FDSSC.