• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.90.1-90.1
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• 2010

Due to the rapidly diminishing energy sources and higher energy production cost, the interest in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) has been increasing dramatically in recent years. A typical DSSC is constructed of wide band gap semiconductor electrode such as $TiO_2$ or ZnO that are anchored by light-harvesting sensitizer dyes and surrounded by a liquid electrolyte with a iodide ion/triiodide ion redox couple. DSSCs based on one-dimensional nano-structures, such as ZnO nanorods, have been recently attracting increasing attention due to their excellent electrical conductivity, high optical transmittance, diverse and abundant configurations, direct band gap, absence of toxicity, large exiton binding energy, etc. However, solar-to-electrical conversion performances of DSSCs composed of ZnO n-type photo electrode compared with that of $TiO_2$ are not satisfactory. An important reason for the low photovoltaic performance is the dissolution of $Zn^{2+}$ by the adsorption of acidic dye followed by the formation of agglomerates with dye molecules which could block the I-diffusion pathway into the dye molecule on the ZnO surface. In this paper, we prepared the DSSC with the ZnO electrode using the chemical bath deposition (CBD) method under low temperature condition (< $100^{\circ}C$). It was demonstrated that the ZnO seed layers played an important role on the formation of the ZnO nanostructures using CBD. To achieve truly low-temperature growth of the ZnO nanostructures on the substrates, a two-step method was developed and optimized in the present work. Firstly, ZnO seed layer was prepared on the FTO substrate through the spin-coating method. Secondly, the deposited ZnO seed substrate was immersed into an aqueous solution of 0.25M zinc nitrate hexahydrate and 0.25M hexamethylenetetramine at $90^{\circ}C$ for hydrothermal reaction several times.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.88.1-88.1
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• 2010

Organic dyes, because of their many advantages, such as high molar extinction coefficients, convenience of customized molecular design for desired photophysical and photochemical properties, inexpensiveness with no transition metals contained, and environment-friendliness, are suitable as photosensitizers for the Dye-sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC). The efficiency of DSSC based on metal-free organic dyes is known to be much lower than that of Ru dyes generally, but a high solar energy-to-electricity conversion efficiency of up to 8% in full sunlight has been achieved by Ito et al. using an indoline dye. This result suggests that smartly designed and synthesized metal-free organic dyes are also highly competitive candidates for photosensitizers of DSSCs with their advantages mentioned above. Recently, the performance of DSSC based on metal-free organic dyes has been remarkably improved by several groups. We had reported the novel organic dye with double electron acceptor chromophore, which was a new strategy to design an efficient photosensitizer for DSSC. To verify the strategy, we synthesized organic dyes whose geometries, electronic structures and optical properties were derived from preceding density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. In this paper, we successfully synthesized the chromophore containing multi-acceptor push-pull system from triphenylamine with thiophene moieties as a bridge unit. Organic dyes with a single electron acceptor and double acceptor system were also synthesized for comparison purposes. The photovoltaic performances of these dyes were compared, and the recombination dark current curves and the incident photon-to-current (IPCE) efficiencies were also measured in order to characterize the effects of the multi-anchoring groups on the open-circuit voltage and the short-circuit current. In order to match specifications required for practical applications to be implemented outdoors, light soaking and thermal stability tests of these DSSCs, performed under $100mWcm^{-2}$ and $60^{\circ}C$ for 1000h.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.483-487
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• 2010

To fabricate $TiO_2$ nanoparticle-based dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) at a low-temperature, DSSCs were fabricated using hydropolymer and ZnO nanoparticles composites for the electron transport layer around a low-temperature ($200^{\circ}C$). ZnO nanoparticle with 20 nm and 60 nm diameter were used and Pt was deposited as a counter electrode on ITO/glass using an RF magnetron sputtering. We investigate the effect of ZnO nanoparticle concentration in hydropolymer and ZnO nanoparticle solution on the photoconversion performance of the low temperature fabricated ($200^{\circ}C$) DSSCs. Using cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,20 bipyridy1-4,40 dicarboxylato) ruthenium (II) bis-tetrabutylammonium (N719) dye as a sensitizer, the corresponding device performance and photo-physical characteristics are investigated through conventional physical characterization techniques. The effect of thickness of the ZnO photoelectrode and the morphology of the ZnO nanoparticles with the variations of hydropolymer to ZnO ratio on the photoconversion performance are also investigated. The morphology of the ZnO layer after sintering was examined using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). 60 nm ZnO nanoparticle DSSCs showed an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) value of about 7% higher than that of 20 nm ZnO nanoparticle DSSCs. The maximum parameters of the short circuit current density ($J_{sc}$), the open circuit potential ($V_{oc}$), fill factor (ff), and efficiency ($\eta$) in the 60 nm ZnO nanoparticle-based DSSC devices were 4.93 mA/$cm^2$, 0.56V, 0.40, and 1.12%, respectively.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.650-653
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• 2007

$SnO_2$-doped $TiO_2$ powder was obtained from tin (IV) bis(acetylacetonate) dichloride and titanium diisopropoxide bis(acetylacetonate) with quinacridone as the dye sensitizer molecule. The structural changes of the reaction mixture were monitored by fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The morphology and microstructure of gel powder were studied by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The photocatalytic activity of these powders with the anatase structure was investigated by using indigo carmine solution as a test dye

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.441-441
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• 2009

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been widely investigated as a next-generation solar cell because of their simple fabrication process and low coats. The cells use a porous nanocrystalline TiO2 matrix coated with a sensitizer dye that acts as the light-harvesting element. The photo-exited dye injects electrons into the $TiO_2$ particles, and the oxide dye reacts with I- in the electrolyte in regenerative cycle that is completed by the reduction of $I_3^-$ at a platinum-coated counter electrode. Since $TiO_2$ porous film plays a key role in the enhancement of photoelectric conversion efficiency of DSSC, many scientists focus their researches on it. Especially, a high light-to-electricity conversion efficiency results from particle size and crystallographic phase, film porosity, surface structure, charge and surface area to volume ratio of porous $TiO_2$ electrodes, on which the dye can be sufficiently adsorbed. Effective treatment of the photoanode is important to improve DSSC performance. In this paper, to obtain properties of surface and dispersion as nitric acid treated $TiO_2$ photoelectrode was investigate. The photovoltaic characteristics of DSSCs based the electrode fabricated by nitric acid pre-treatment $TiO_2$ materials gave better performances on both of short circuit current density and open circuit voltage. We compare dispersion of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles before and after nitric acid treatment and measured Ti oxidized state from XPS. Low charge transfer resistance was obtained in nitric acid treated sample than that of untreated sample. The dye-sensitized solar cell based on the nitric acid treatment had open-circuit voltage of 0.71 V, a short-circuit current of 15.2 mAcm-2 and an energy conversion efficiency of 6.6 % under light intensity of $100\;mWcm^{-2}$. About 14 % increases in efficiency obtained when the $TiO_2$ electrode was treated by nitric acid.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.2329-2337
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• 2009

Three heteroleptic ruthenium sensitizers, Ru(L)($L^1)(NCS)_2$ [L = 4,4'-dicarboxylic acid-2,2'-bipyridine, Ru-T1: $L^1$ = (E)-2-(4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridin-4-yl)-3-(thiophen-2-yl)acrylonitrile, Ru-T2: $L^2$ = (E)-3-(5'-hexyl-2,2'-bithiophen-5- yl)-2-(4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridin-4-yl)acrylonitrile, and Ru-T3: $L^3$ = (E)-3-(5"-hexyl-2,2':5',2"-terthiophen-5-yl)-2- (4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridin-4-yl)acrylonitrile)], were synthesized and used as photosensitizers in nanocrystalline dyesensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The introduction of the 3-(5-hexyloligothiophen-5-yl)acrylonitrile group increased the conjugation length of the bipyridine donor ligand and thus improved their molar absorption coefficient and light harvesting efficiency. DSSCs with the configuration of Sn$O_2$: F/Ti$O_2$/ruthenium dye/liquid electrolyte/Pt devices were fabricated using these Ru-$T1{\sim}T3$ as a photosensitizers. Among the devices, the DSSCs composed of Ru-T2 exhibited highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.84% under AM 1.5 G illumination (100 mW/$cm^2$).

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.2743-2750
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• 2011

Lanthanide(III)-cored complex as a wavelength conversion material has been successfully designed and synthesized for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells, for the first time, since light with a short wavelength has not been effectively used for generating electric power owing to the limited absorption of these DSSCs in the UV region. A black dye (BD) was chosen and used as a sensitizer, because BD has a relatively weak light absorption at shorter wavelengths. The overall conversion efficiency of the BD/WCM device was remarkably increased, even with the relatively small amount of WCM added to the device. The enhancement in $V_{oc}$ by WCM, like DCA, could be correlated with the suppression of electron recombination between the injected electrons and $I_3{^-}$ ions. Furthermore, the short-circuit current density was significantly increased by WCM with a strong UV light-harvesting effect. The energy transfer from the Eu(III)-cored complex to the $TiO_2$ film occurred via the dye, so the number of electrons injected into the $TiO_2$ surface increased, i.e., the short-circuit current density was increased. As a result, BD/WCM-sensitized solar cells exhibit superior device performance with the enhanced conversion efficiency by a factor of 1.22 under AM 1.5 sunlight: The photovoltaic performance of the BD/WCM-based DSSC exhibited remarkably high values, $J_{sc}$ of 17.72 mA/$cm^2$, $V_{oc}$ of 720 mV, and a conversion efficiency of 9.28% at 100 mW $cm^{-2}$, compared to a standard DSSC with $J_{sc}$ of 15.53 mA/$cm^2$, $V_{oc}$ of 689 mV, and a conversion efficiency of 7.58% at 100 mW $cm^{-2}$. Therefore, the Eu(III)-cored complex is a promising candidate as a new wavelength conversion coadsorbent for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells to improve UV light harvesting through energy transfer processes. The abstract should be a single paragraph which summaries the content of the article.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.177-181
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• 2012

Dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs) based on $TiO_2$ film photo anode incorporated with different amount of grapheme nanosheet(GNS) are fabricated and their photovoltaic performance are investigated. The $TiO_2$-GNS composite electrode has been prepared by a direct mixing method. The DSSC performance of this composite electrode was measured using N3 dye as a sensitizer. The performance of DSSCs using the $TiO_2$-GNS composite electrodes is dependent on the GNS loading in the electrodes. The results show that the DSSCs incorporating 0.01 wt% GNS in $TiO_2$photo anode demonstrates a maximum power conversion efficiency of 5.73%, 26% higher than that without GNS. The performance improvement is ascribed to increased N3 dye adsorption, the reduction of electron recombination and back transport reaction as well as enhancement of electron transport with the introduction of GNS. The presence of both $TiO_2$(anatase) and GNS has been confirmed by FieldEmission Scanning Electron Microscopy(FE-SEM). The decrease in recombination due to GNS in DSSCs has been investigated by the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.433-434
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• 2008

Until now, many studies have been carried out on $TiO_2$ electrode, counter electrode, sensitizer and electrolyte to improve dye-sensitized solar cell(DSSC)'s performance. It was known that surface area of the $TiO_2$ are of paramount importance in determining the cell efficiency. In this experiment, $TiO_2$ working electrodes were sintered at four different temperatures (400, 450, 500 and $550^{\circ}C$) for 55 minutes in ambient atmosphere. Also these electrodes were sintered at four different times (40, 55, 70, 85minutes) in temperature where shows the highest efficiency. I-V characteristics of DSSC made up of different working electrodes were studied using solar simulator.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.463-463
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• 2014

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have generated a strong interest in the development of solid-state devices owing to their low cost and simple preparation procedures. Effort has been devoted to the study of electrolytes that allow light-to-electrical power conversion for DSSC applications. Several attempts have been made to substitute the liquid electrolyte in the original solar cells by using (2,2',7,7'-tetrakis (N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9-9'-spirobi-fluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) that act as hole conductor [1]. Although efficiencies above 3% have been reached by several groups, here the major challenging is limited photoelectrode thickness ($2{\mu}m$), which is very low due to electron diffusion length (Ln) for spiro-OMeTAD ($4.4{\mu}m$) [2]. In principle, the $TiO_2$ layer can be thicker than had been thought previously. This has important implications for the design of high-efficiency solid-state DSSCs. In the present study, we have fabricated 3-D Transparent Conducting Oxide (TCO) by growing tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) nanowire (NWs) arrays via a vapor transport method [3] and mesoporous $TiO_2$ nanoparticle (NP)-based photoelectrodes were prepared using doctor blade method. Finally optimized light-harvesting solid-state DSSCs is made using 3-D TCO where electron life time is controlled the recombination rate through fast charge collection and also ITO NWs length can be controlled in the range of over $2{\mu}m$ and has been characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Structural analyses by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) results reveal that the ITO NWs formed single crystal oriented [100] direction. Also to compare the charge collection properties of conventional NPs based solid-state DSSCs with ITO NWs based solid-state DSSCs, we have studied intensity modulated photovoltage spectroscopy (IMVS), intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS) and transient open circuit voltages. As a result, above $4{\mu}m$ thick ITO NWs based photoelectrodes with Z907 dye shown the best performing device, exhibiting a short-circuit current density of 7.21 mA cm-2 under simulated solar emission of 100 mW cm-2 associated with an overall power conversion efficiency of 2.80 %. Finally, we achieved the efficiency of 7.5% by applying a CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite sensitizer.