Effect of perovskite-PbTiO3 as a buffer or scattering layer in DSSC performance

• Influence of a buffer or scattering layer of perovskite-PbTiO3 on the performance of DSSC.
• The cell efficiency improved with a mixture of TiO2 and PbTiO3 as a buffer layer.
• TiO2b/5TiO2b-5PbTiO3/PbTiO3-DSSC showed the highest cell performance.
• Improved electron recombination and transportation on TiO2b/5TiO2b-5PbTiO3/PbTiO3-DSSC.

To enhance the current efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells, a perovskite-PbTiO3 as a buffer or scattering supplement is introduced via a conventional hydrothermal treatment in this study. For comparison, five groups of multi-layered electrodes with different configurations are fabricated, TiO2/TiO2 (blocking layer/scattering layer), TiO2/PbTiO3 and TiO2/TiO2-PbTiO3/PbTiO3 (blocking layer/buffer layer/scattering layer), and the photoelectrochemical properties of these materials are identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, impedance measurements (EIS), intensity-modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS) and intensity-modulated photovoltage spectroscopy (IMVS) analysis. When a mixture of TiO2 and PbTiO3 is prepared as a buffer layer, the cell efficiency is improved remarkably. In particular, TiO2b/5TiO2b-5PbTiO3/PbTiO3-DSSC shows the highest cell performance of 8.39% with the smallest internal resistance. This result means that the improved electron recombination and transportation over the TiO2b/5TiO2b-5PbTiO3/PbTiO3-DSSC lead to higher efficiency. Based on the photoelectrochemical results, the perovskite-PbTiO3 can be concluded to be a valuable material to reduce the presence of defects at the interface and facilitate the movement of electrons for higher DSSC performance.

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