Influence of Surface Modifier Molecular Structures on the Photovoltaic Performance of Sb2S3‐Sensitized TiO2 Nanorod Array Solar Cells. Issue 6 (23rd March 2020) - Ying, Chao
Abstract : Herein, Sb2 S3 ‐sensitized TiO2 nanorod arrays are prepared by the pyrolysis of 1.2 m antimony–thiourea complex solution in dimethylformamide (DMF) at 270 °C for 10 min. Various surface modifiers with different functional groups and carbon numbers of C10 H21 PO3 H2, C12 H25 SO3 Na, C3 H7 COOH, C5 H11 COOH, C7 H15 COOH, C11 H23 COOH, C13 H27 COOH, C15 H31 COOH, and C17 H35 COOH are applied to modify Sb2 S3 ‐sensitized TiO2 nanorod arrays. The corresponding solar cells are fabricated, and their photovoltaic performances are evaluated. To the different functional group surface modifiers, the improvement of functional group on photovoltaic performance is of the order of COOH > PO3 H2 > SO3 Na. To the different carbon number (4–18) surface modifiers, RCOOH with carbon number range of 8–12 exhibits better photovoltaic performance. Moreover, the Sb2 S3 ‐sensitized TiO2 nanorod array solar cells with C11 H23 COOH achieve the best photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.37% with the open‐circuit voltage ( V oc ) of 0.53 V, short‐circuit current density ( J sc ) of 16.98 mA cm −2, fill factor (FF) of 60.66%, and the average PCE of 5.11 ± 0.21% with the V oc of 0.52 ± 0.01 V, J sc of 16.65 ± 0.24 mA cm −2, and FF of 58.93 ± 1.21%. The PCE of 5.37% corresponding to the use of spiro‐OMeTAD as the hole‐transporting material is a relatively high PCE for Sb2 S3 solar cells. Abstract : Surface modifiers with different functional groups and carbon numbers, including C10 H21 PO3 H2, C12 H25 SO3 Na, C3 H7 COOH, C5 H11 COOH, C7 H15 COOH, C11 H23 COOH, C13 H27 COOH, C15 H31 COOH, and C17 H35 COOH, are applied to modify Sb2 S3 ‐sensitized TiO2 nanorod arrays. These surface modifiers can penetrate into the pinholes, further absorb on the bare TiO2 surface, and prevent direct contact between TiO2 and spiro‐OMeTAD.