• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.338-343
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• 2015

Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which is one of the contending renewable energy sources, have the problem of low efficiency. To improve the efficiency, the fast electron transport and long electron lifetime are required. In this study, one-dimensional sodium hexatitanate, which is expected to have an advantageous structure for electron transports, was synthesized and the feasibility of the material on DSSC was tested. Its physical properties were characterized by the SEM, XRD, and BET method. The dye adsorption and solar cell properties were also characterized. In addition to the expectation of fast electron transport, sodium hexatitanate showed longer electron lifetime: This means sodium hexatitanate can improve the DSSC efficiency. However, it showed low current and voltage because of the low surface area leading to the low amount of dye adsorbed. Therefore, it should be mixed with titanium oxide with high surface area for the optimal performance.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.227-233
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• 2009

Recently, dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), one of the solar cells, has been widely investigated. Studies on DSSCs can be classified into 4 fields such as $TiO_2$ nanocrystalline materials, dyes, electrolytes and conductive plate. In this work, $TiO_2$ nanoparticles for dye adsorption were synthesized, and added into the photo-electrode paste with different phosphor types and contents. Then, the influence of phosphor additives on the conversion efficiency of DSSCs was investigated. It was found that the maximum conversion efficiency was 8.81% when 0.5% of YAG phospher having the particle size of 400 nm was used.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.447-452
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• 2018

Titanium nanotubes (TNT) of various lengths ranging from $0.34^{\circ}C$ to a maximum of $8.9^{\circ}C$ were prepared by anodizing a titanium metal sheet in an electrolyte containing fluorine ion ($F^-$) of HF, NaF and $NH_4F$. When TNT prepared by anodizing was calcined at $450^{\circ}C$, anatase crystals with photo activity were formed. The TNT-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) showed a maximum conversion efficiency of 4.71% when the TNT length was $2.5{\mu}m$. This value was about 18% higher than photo conversion efficiency of the FTO-based DSSC coated with titania paste. And the short circuit current density ($J_{sc}$) of the TNT-DSSC was $9.74mA/cm^2$, which was about 35% higher than the $7.19mA/cm^2$ of FTO-DSSC. The reason for the higher conversion efficiency of TNT-DSSC solar cells is that photoelectrons generated from dyes are rapidly transferred to the electrode surface through TNT, and the recombination of photoelectrons and dyes is suppressed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.194-199
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• 2016

We prepared polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) beads with a particle size of 80 nm to improve the energy conversion efficiency (ECE) by increasing the effective surface area and the dye absorption ability of the working electrodes (WEs) in a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC). We prepared the $TiO_2$ layer with PMMA beads of 0.0~1.0 wt%; then, finally, a DSSC with $0.45cm^2$ active area was obtained. Optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the microstructure of the $TiO_2$ layer with PMMA. UV-VIS-NIR was used to determine the optical absorbance of the WEs with PMMA. A solar simulator and a potentiostat were used to determine the photovoltaic properties of the PMMA-added DSSC. Analysis of the microstructure showed that pores of 200 nm were formed by the decomposition of PMMA. Also, root mean square values linearly increased as more PMMA was added. The absorbance in the visible light regime was found to increase as the degree of PMMA dispersion increased. The ECE increased from 4.91% to 5.35% when the amount of PMMA beads added was increased from 0.0 to 0.4 wt%. However, the ECE decreased when more than 0.6 wt% of PMMA was added. Thus, adding a proper amount of PMMA to the $TiO_2$ layer was determined to be an effective method for improving the ECE of a DSSC.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.89.1-89.1
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• 2010

Since Gratzel and co-workers developed a new type of solar cell based on the nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ electrode, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted considerable attention on account of their high solar energy-to-conversion efficiencies (11%), their easy manufacturing process with low cost production compared to conventional p-n junction solar cells. The mechanism of DSSC is based on the injection of electrons from the photoexcited dye into the conduction band of nanocrystalline $TiO_2$. The oxidized dye is reduced by the hole injection process from either the hole counter or electrolyte. Thus, the electronic structures, such as HOMO, LUMO, and HOMO-LUMO gap, of dye molecule in DSSC are deeply related to the electron transfer by photoexcitation and redox potential. To date, high performance and good stability of DSSC based on Ru-dyes as a photosensitizer had been widely addressed in the literatures. DSSC with Ru-bipyridyl complexes (N3 and N719), and the black ruthenium dye have achieved power conversion efficiencies up to 11.2% and 10.4%, respectively. However, the Ru-dyes are facing the problem of manufacturing costs and environmental issues. In order to obtain even cheaper photosensitizers for DSSC, metal-free organic photosensitizers are strongly desired. Metal-free organic dyes offer superior molar extinction coefficients, low cost, and a diversity of molecular structures, compared to conventional Ru-dyes. Recently, novel photosensitizers such as coumarin, merocyanine, cyanine, indoline, hemicyanine, triphenylamine, dialkylaniline, bis(dimethylfluorenyl)-aminophenyl, phenothiazine, tetrahydroquinoline, and carbazole based dyes have achieved solar-to-electrical power conversion efficiencies up to 5-9%. On the other hand, organic dye molecules have large ${\pi}$-conjugated planner structures which would bring out strong molecular stacking in their solid-state and poor solubility in their media. It was well known that the molecular stacking of organic dyes could reduce the electron transfer pathway in opto-electronic devices, significantly. In this paper, we have studied on synthesis and characterization of dendritic organic dyes with different number of electron acceptor/anchoring moieties in the end of dendrimer. The photovoltaic performances and the incident photon-to-current (IPCE) of these dyes were measured to evaluate the effects of the dendritic strucuture on the open-circuit voltage and the short-circuit current.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.400-405
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• 2017

$P_2O_5-ZnO-SiO_2-R_2O$ glasses were synthesized as a sealing material for large scale dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Compositional effects of $P_2O_5$ and ZnO were examined by varying their contents. Their viscosity and glass stability at sintering temperatures of less than $550^{\circ}C$ were examined by flow button test. Glass transition temperature and structural change upon compositional change were investigated. Chemical stability against electrolyte was also examined by immersing the glasses in the electrolyte for 72 h at $85^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.435-436
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• 2008

Dye-sensitized Solar Cells(DSSCs) which convert incident sun light into electricity were expected to overcome global warming and depletion of fossil fuels. And it is one of study that is lately getting into the spotlight because manufacturing method is more simple and inexpensive than existing silicon solar cells. In this respect, DSSCs are in the limelight as the next generation solar cells. DSSCs are generally composed of a dye-modified $TiO_2$ photoelectrode, a Pt counter electrode, and an electrolytes containing a redox couple$(I^-/I_3^-)$. Among these elements, pt electrode were prepared by applying electric potential to FTO substrate in the $H_2PtCl_6$ solution. In this study, we report the solar cell efficiency depending on $PtCl_4$ concentration change. $PtCl_4$ concentration was 1mM, 5mM, 10mM, and 20mM, and adhered on FTO glass substrate by sintering process. When applied each $PtCl_4$ counter electrode on DSSC, the best efficiency was found at 10mM of $PtCl_4$ concentration. The catalyst promotes the movement of electron from the counter electrode to the electrolyte the higher the molarity, the better the efficiency. However, in case of 20mM, it is estimated that over-deposited $PtCl_4$ tends to restrict the movement of electron due to its bundle formation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.1001-1005
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• 2004

Rye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a new class of solar cell, which consists of nanoporous TiO$_2$ electrode, dye-sensitizer, electrolyte, and counter electrode. Such cell is operated in sunlight via the principle of photosynthetic electrochemistry. In order to obtain the good dispersion of nano size TiO$_2$ particles In slurry, the pH of solvent, the sort and quantify of solvent additive and the quantity of surfactant were adjusted. As results, the lower the pH of solvent was the lower the viscosity of the slurry became. The addition of ethylene glycol and propylene glycol to dilute HNO$_3$ brought about the lowering of viscosity and the enhancement of stability in slurry. The addition of surfactant lowered the viscosity of slurry. It was possible to obtain the homogeneous and uniformly dispersed mesoporous TiO$_2$ film using the dilute HNO$_3$ solvent of pH 2 with the addition of ethylene glycol and neutral surfactant. DSSC was assembled with TiO$_2$ electrode and Pt electrode, and its photoelectric property was measured using the monochromatic wavelength in the rangee of 350∼700 nm.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.289-292
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• 2015

The etching processes of glass in aqueous hydrofluoric acid (HF) solutions were used to improve the current density of solar cell. In this study, the textured glass substrate has been etched by solution and the $TiO_2$ thin films have been prepared on this textured glass. After the $TiO_2$ film deposition the surface has been etched by HF under different concentration and the etched $TiO_2$ thin films had a longer electron lifetime and higher haze ratio as well as light scattering, resulting in 1.7 times increment of dye-sensitized solar-cell(DSSC) efficiency. Increases in the surface root-mean-square roughness of glass substrates from 80 nm to 1774 nm enhanced haze ratio in above 300 nm wavelength. In particular, haze ratio of etched $TiO_2$ films on textured glass showed gradually increasing tendency at 550 nm wavelength by increasing of HF concentration up to 10M, suggesting a formation of crater with various sizes on its surface.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.318.2-318.2
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• 2013

기존의 염료감응형 태양전지(Dye Sensitized Solar Cells; DSSCs)는 최대 효율 11~12%의 광전변환효율을 가지고 있다. 이러한 한계를 극복하기 위해서 광흡수 층 최적화, 상대전극의 촉매성 증대, 전해질의 산화 환원 반응 최적화 등의 많은 연구가 이루어지고 있다. 본 연구에서는 DSSCs의 광전변환효율을 증가시키고자 기존의 투명전극 및 기판으로 사용되는 FTO(Fluor-doped Tin Oxide)를 GZO(Gallium-doped Zinc Oxide)를 사용하여 투명전극기판에 따른 계면 저항, 전류손실 등 DSSCs에 미치는 영향을 분석하였다. 본 연구에 사용된 FTO는 ${\sim}7{\Omega}/{\square}$의 면저항과 80%이상의 투과도를 갖고 있으나 Ion-Sputtering 법으로 증착된 GZO는 열처리 과정을 통하여 $3{\sim}4{\Omega}/{\square}$의 면 저항을 나타내고 80%이상의 우수한 투과도를 가지고 있다. 이러한 두 기판의 특성 비교를 위해, UV-Visble Spectrophotometer를 사용하여 광학적 특성을 분석하고, SEM(Scanning Electron Microscope), AFM(Atomic Force Microscope)를 사용하여 표면 특성을 평가하였다. 또한 전기적 특성을 분석하기 위하여 4-Point-probe를 이용하여 면 저항을 측정하였고, DSSCs의 효율 및 Fill Factor를 분석하기 위하여 Solar Simulator의 I-V measurement를 이용하였다.