Optical modeling-assisted characterization of dye-sensitized solar cells using TiO2 nanotube arrays as photoanodes

Jung-Ho Yun; Il Ku Kim; Yun Hau Ng; Lianzhou Wang; Rose Amal

doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.102

Optical modeling-assisted characterization of dye-sensitized solar cells using TiO2 nanotube arrays as photoanodes

Beilstein J Nanotechnol. 2014 Jun 24:5:895-902. doi: 10.3762/bjnano.5.102. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Jung-Ho Yun¹, Il Ku Kim², Yun Hau Ng³, Lianzhou Wang¹, Rose Amal³

Affiliations

¹ Nanomaterials Centre, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia.
² School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia.
³ School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington NSW 2052, Australia.

Abstract

Photovoltaic characteristics of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) using TiO2 nanotube (TNT) arrays as photoanodes were investigated. The TNT arrays were 3.3, 11.5, and 20.6 μm long with the pore diameters of 50, 78.6, and 98.7 nm, respectively. The longest TNT array of 20.6 μm in length showed enhanced photovoltaic performances of 3.87% with significantly increased photocurrent density of 8.26 mA·cm(-2). This improvement is attributed to the increased amount of the adsorbed dyes and the improved electron transport property with an increase in TNT length. The initial charge generation rate was improved from 4 × 10(21) s(-1)·cm(-3) to 7 × 10(21) s(-1)·cm(-3) in DSSCs based on optical modelling analysis. The modelling analysis of optical processes inside TNT-based DSSCs using generalized transfer matrix method (GTMM) revealed that the amount of dye and TNT lengths were critical factors influencing the performance of DSSCs, which is consistent with the experimental results.

Keywords: TiO2 nanotubes; charge generation; dye-sensitized solar cells; generalized transfer matrix method; optical process; photocatalysis.