Eosin yellowish dye sensitized solid state solar cells with titanium dioxide electrodes composed of nanoparticles/nanowires

• Usage of TiO2 nanoparticles and nanowires as DSSC photoanode films is emphasized.
• Quenching of UV emission in TiO2 NWs than NPs shows better solar conversion efficiency.
• JSC of NW DSSC is enhanced by 3–4-fold (1022 μA/cm2) compared to NPs.
• TiO2 NWs give appreciable improvement in VOC (400.6 mV) and efficiency (0.32%).
• TiO2 NW DSSC performs well compared to NPs due to improved charge transport.

The effective usage of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) and nanowires (NWs) as dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) photoanode films prepared by a doctor blade technique using the nanopowders synthesized by the chemical hydrolysis and hydrothermal method, respectively is emphasized here. Material characterization by XRD confirms the formation of anatase phased TiO2 NPs and NWs. The photoluminescence spectral result shows the effective quenching of UV emission in TiO2 NWs than NPs, consequence of reduction in recombination rate, which directly favors for better solar conversion efficiency. PEO/TiO2/LiI/I2 and PEO/PEG/LiI/I2 are used as charge transport media (electrolytes) in the assembled Eosin yellowish (EY) dye sensitized DSSC. The short circuit current density (JSC) of NW based DSSC (TiO2 NWs/EY/PEO/PEG/LiI/I2) is enhanced by 3–4-fold times (1021.8 μA/cm2) compared to NPs, which is due to the improved direct electron transport pathway to the collection of electrode. Similarly, the fabricated DSSC gives appreciable improvement in open circuit voltage (VOC) (410.6 mV) corresponding to EY dye and both factors lead to remarkable enhancement in solar cell performance as 0.32%. Even though two different electrolytes are employed, TiO2 NW based DSSC performs well compared to NPs, which implies the improved charge transport taking place in NW DSSC.