Preparation of Ultra-Thin Transparent TiO2 Coated Film by Ink-Jet Printing Method

Dye sensitized solar cells(DSSC) are the most promising future energy resource due to their high energy efficiency, low production cost, and simple manufacturing process. But one problem in DSSC is short life time compared to silicon solar cells. This problem occurred from photocatalytic degradation of dye material by nanometer sized $TiO_2$ particles. To prevent dye degradation as well as to increase its life time, the transparent coating film is needed for UV blocking. In this study, we synthesized nanometer sized $TiO_2$ particles in sols by increasing its internal pressure up to 200 bar in autoclave at $120^{\circ}C$ for 10 hrs. The synthesized $TiO_2$ sols were all formed with brookite phase and their particle size was several nm to 30 nm. Synthesized $TiO_2$ sols were coated on the backside of fluorine doped tin oxide(FTO) glass by ink jet printing method. With increasing coating thickness by repeated ink jet coating, the absorbance of UV region (under 400 nm) also increases reasonably. Decomposition test of titania powders dispersed in 0.1 mM amaranth solution covered with $TiO_2$ coating glass shows more stable dye properties under UV irradiation, compared to that with as-received FTO glass.

잉크젯 프린팅을 이용한 초박막 투명 TiO2 코팅층 제조