TiO2 nanofiber/nanoparticles composite photoelectrodes with improved light harvesting ability for dye-sensitized solar cells

In this study, a TiO2 nanofiber/nanoparticles composite photoelectrode was combined with spectral convertors to improve the overall efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In a typical preparation process, several photoelectrodes (PE) with equal thickness but different compositions were prepared. The DSSC composed of TiO2 nanofiber/nanoparticles incorporated with 15 wt.% spectral convertors showed an optimal light-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of 8.94%. This light-to-electricity conversion efficiency was 38.6% higher than that of the bare DSSC with TiO2 nanoparticles only. The significantly enhanced efficiency of the DSSC was attributed to the highly favored scattering effect from the TiO2 nanofibers in combination with enhanced incident light harvesting from spectral convertors.