Application of monodisperse TiO2 nanoparticles with the size of 8–10 nm in dye-sensitized solar cells

• Application of the monodisperse TiO2 nanoparticles with the size of 8–10 nm in DSCs.
• The influence of the TiO2 film thickness on the photovoltaic performance of DSCs.
• The η of 7.03% was achieved by the DSCs with the thickness of 20.0 μm.

In this paper, the commercial monodisperse TiO2 nanoparticles with the size of 8–10 nm were successfully applied to the photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) and the influence of the thickness of the TiO2 thin films on the photovoltaic performance of the DSCs was investigated. The result revealed that the DSCs with the TiO2 thin film thickness of 3.6, 8.0, 11.6 and 20.0 μm gave the photoelectric conversion efficiency of 3.67%, 5.92%, 6.71% and 7.03%, respectively, under the illumination of simulated AM 1.5 sunlight (100 mW cm−2).

The J–V and dark current–voltage characteristics of the DSCs based on TiO2 thin films with different thickness, a. 3.6 μm; b. 8.0 μm; c. 11.6 μm; d. 20.0 μm. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) with the TiO2 (8–10 nm) thin film thickness of 3.6, 8.0, 11.6 and 20.0 μm gave the photoelectric conversion efficiency of 3.67%, 5.92%, 6.71% and 7.03%, respectively, under the illumination of simulated AM 1.5 sunlight (100 mW cm−2).Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide