Magnesia nanoparticles in liquid electrolyte for dye sensitized solar cells: An effective recombination suppressant?

Recombination reactions at the photoanode/electrolyte interface reduce the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Unlike modification of titania photoanode by coating with MgO which act as a barrier layer toward recombination, addition of MgO nanopowder to electrolyte prevents recombination through adsorption of anions (triiodide/iodide) from electrolyte. In the present study, the surface charge of MgO has been utilized to adsorb anions from electrolyte. This anionic adsorption onto the MgO nanopowders in electrolyte has been confirmed by zeta potential measurements. MgO retards the recombination reaction as efficiently as 4-tert-butylpyridine (TBP) which is the most widely used additive in the electrolyte. Higher photocurrent and conversion efficiency is achieved by using MgO loaded electrolyte as compared to TBP added electrolyte. Dark current measurements show that recombination reactions are effectively retarded by use of MgO loaded electrolytes. Open circuit voltage decay measurements also confirm higher electron lifetime at the titania/electrolyte interface in MgO loaded electrolyte based cell as compared to additive free electrolyte based cell.

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► MgO loaded electrolyte retards recombination at titania/electrolyte interface.
► Recombination reactions are retarded by adsorption of anions on MgO in electrolyte.
► Zeta potential measurements show anionic adsorption on the surface of MgO.
► MgO loaded electrolyte performs efficiently than TBP containing electrolyte.