The effect of the agglomerated microstructure of dry-deposited TiO2 electrodes on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells

We describe the fabrication of transparent electrode films formed of TiO2 nanopowder using a nanoparticle deposition system (NPDS) for applications in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Structural and functional analyses of this films show that they exhibit favorable optical scattering properties, which are expected to lead to improvements in efficiency compared with screen-printed films. Aerosol deposition of agglomerated powders led to high density of 55%, and because of the high density, the photo electrodes showed less optical transmittance and specific surface area; however, they exhibited diffuse transmittance due to the agglomerated microstructure. As a result, these films exhibited high photovoltaic efficiency of η = 7.3%, which exceeds that of previously reported DSSCs fabricated using electrodes deposited via similar aerosolized deposition techniques together with a current density of 14.1 mA cm−2.