• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제32권10호
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• pp.3629-3633
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• 2011

The effect of a dense $TiO_2$ blocking layer prepared using the sol-gel method on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells was studied. The blocking layer formed directly on the working electrode, separated it from the electrolyte, and prevented the back transfer of electrons from the electrode to the electrolyte. The dyesensitized solar cells were prepared with a working electrode of fluorine-doped tin oxide glass coated with a blocking layer of dense $TiO_2$, a dye-attached mesoporous $TiO_2$ film, and a nano-gel electrolyte, and a counter electrode of Pt-deposited FTO glass. The gel processing conditions and heat treatment temperature for blocking layer formation affected the morphology and performance of the cells, and their optimal values were determined. The introduction of the blocking layer increased the conversion efficiency of the cell by 7.37% for the cell without a blocking layer to 8.55% for the cell with a dense $TiO_2$ blocking layer, under standard illumination conditions. The short-circuit current density ($J_{sc}$) and open-circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$) also were increased by the addition of a dense $TiO_2$ blocking layer.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2010년도 춘계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.87-87
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• 2010

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems are promising methods of producing H2 gas using solar energy in an aqueous solution. The photoelectrochemical properties of numerous metal oxides have been studied. Among them, the PEC systems based on TiO2 have been extensively studied. However, the drawback of a PEC system with TiO2 is that only ultraviolet (UV) light can be absorbed because of its large band gap (3.2 - 3.4 eV). Two approaches have been introduced in order to use PEC cells in the visible light region. The first method includes doping impurities, such as nitrogen, into TiO2, and this technique has been extensively studied in an attempt to narrow the band gap. In comparison, research on the second method, which includes visible light water splitting in molecular photosystems, has been slow. Mallouk et al. recently developed electrochemical water-splitting cells using the Ru(II) complex as the visible light photosensitizer. the dye-sensitized PEC cell consisted of a dye-sensitized TiO2 layer, a Pt counter electrode, and an aqueous solution between them. Under a visible light (< 3 eV) illumination, only the dye molecule absorbed the light and became excited because TiO2 had the wide band gap. The light absorption of the dye was followed by the transfer of an electron from the excited state (S*) of the dye to the conduction band (CB) of TiO2 and its subsequent transfer to the transparent conducting oxide (TCO). The electrons moved through the wire to the Pt, where the water reduction (or H2 evolution) occurred. The oxidized dye molecules caused the water oxidation because their HOMO level was below the H2O/O2 level. Organic dyes have been developed as metal-free alternatives to the Ru(II) complexes because of their tunable optical and electronic properties and low-cost manufacturing. Recently, organic dye molecules containing multi-branched, multi-anchoring groups have received a great deal of interest. In this work, tri-branched tri-anchoring organic dyes (Dye 2) were designed and applied to visible light water-splitting cells based on dye-sensitized TiO2 electrodes. Dye 2 had a molecular structure containing one donor (D) and three acceptor (A) groups, and each ended with an anchoring functionality. In comparison, mono-anchoring dyes (Dye 1) were also synthesized. The PEC response of the Dye 2-sensitized TiO2 film was much better than the Dye 1-sensitized or unsensitized TiO2 films.