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The surface states of the active TiO2 layer is crucial while fabricating anefficient solar cell. This work experimentally analyses the effect of exposingTiO2 based electron transport layer (ETL) to the ultraviolet-ozone (UV-O3) andoptimizes the exposure time for improving power conversion efficiency (PCE) offabricated dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). These results demonstrate thatthe performance of DSSCs can be improved significantly by UV-O3 exposure ofsintered TiO2 photoanode surface, with the duration of exposure being acritical parameter. Fabricated devices show 33.01 % increase in PCE for theoptimum exposure. Nevertheless, overexposure of the sample beyond the optimumtime decreases the efficiency of the fabricated solar cells. The device withoptimum exposure exhibits the highest PCE of 8.34% with short circuit currentdensity (Jsc) of 15.15 mA/cm2, open circuit voltage (Voc) of 756 mV and Fillfactor (FF) of 71.10%. This increase in efficiency is attributed to theenhanced crystallization and reduction in the organic contaminants C-C/C-H from57.90 to 52.40% as shown by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectronspectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The XPS result further indicates an increasein oxygen vacancy from 12.40 to 23.40% for O 1s state and from 9.30 to 14.30%for Ti 2p state of Ti3+. Results from the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) alsoconfirms the minimized surface roughness of 16.36 nm for the optimally exposedTiO2 film, and increase in hydrophilicity leading to improved efficiency of thesolar cells which were optimally exposed to UV-O3.

Optimization and effect of UV-ozone exposure of electron transport layer on the efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cells