Carrier leakage blocking effect of high temperature sputtered TiO2 film on dye-sensitized mesoporous photoelectrode

We investigated to find the optimal sputtering conditions for the forming of a titanium oxide (TiO2) film as short-circuit preventive layer (blocking layer) between conductive transparent electrode and porous TiO2 film in the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC). The conversion efficiency (η) was improved so that the electrode substrate temperature and Ar gas pressure during sputtering were high. From the results of X-ray diffraction and Raman inspections, it indicates that sputtered TiO2 blocking layer should be rutile crystalline for higher performance of DSC.