Premium
Enhancement of the Photovoltaic Properties of Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells Using Y 0.80 Yb 0.18 Er 0.02 OF Nanorods
Author(s) -
Wang Jiangli,
You Xueqiu,
Cao Shuohui,
Lin Jianming,
Wu Jihuai,
Chen Zhong
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201700589
Subject(s) - dye sensitized solar cell , nanorod , photocurrent , materials science , energy conversion efficiency , nanotechnology , doping , dopant , hydrothermal circulation , solar cell , photovoltaic system , nanoparticle , chemical engineering , optoelectronics , electrode , chemistry , electrolyte , ecology , engineering , biology
The photoanode plays a critical role in influencing the performance of dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In this work, Y 0.80 Yb 0.18 Er 0.02 OF nanorods (YYEOF NRs) are synthetized by a simple hydrothermal method and incorporated into the TiO 2 film to form a bi‐layer photoanode consisting of nanoparticles (NPs) on the bottom and nanorods on top. Owing to the improved light collection efficiency and electron transport rate, the resultant YYEOF NRs are advantageous as photoanode dopants for DSSCs. Following assembly into an integrated DSSC, an enhanced photocurrent and power conversion efficiency (PCE) are observed. Benefiting from the p‐type doping effect of the YYEOF NRs, the photovoltage of the DSSCs is elevated. The cell performance can be maximized through optimization of the fraction of YYEOF NRs, and the results demonstrate that a promising PCE of 7.74 % is determined for the DSSC with 5 wt % YYEOF NRs, yielding 32.5 % enhancement in comparison to pristine TiO 2 NPs‐based solar cells. This work provides a promising strategy to explore photoanode materials, which will lead to further efficiency improvements for solar cells.