• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.453-461
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• 2022

A chemically sintered and binder-free paste of TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) was prepared using a binary-liquid mixture of 1-octanol and CCl₄. The 1:1 (v/v) complex of CCl₄ and 1-octanol easily interacted chemically with the TiO₂ NPs and induced the formation of a highly viscous paste. The as-prepared binary-liquid paste (P_BL)-based TiO₂ film exhibited the complete removal of the binary-liquid and residuals with the subsequent low-temperature sintering (~150℃) and UV-O₃ treatment. This facilitated the fabrication of TiO₂ photoanodes for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (f-DSSCs). For comparison purposes, pure 1-octanol-based TiO₂ paste (P_O) with moderate viscosity was prepared. The P_BL-based TiO₂ film exhibited strong adhesion and high mechanical stability with the conducting oxide coated glass and plastic substrates compared to the P_O-based film. The corresponding low-temperature sintered P_BL-based f-DSSC showed a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.5%, while it was 2.0% for P_O-based f-DSSC. The P_BL-based low- and high-temperature (500℃) sintered glass-based rigid DSSCs exhibited the PCE of 6.0 and 6.3%, respectively, while this value was 7.1% for a 500℃ sintered rigid DSSC based on a commercial (or conventional) paste.