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Rare‐earth and Nb doping of TiO 2 nanocrystalline mesoscopic layers for high‐efficiency dye‐sensitized solar cells
Author(s) -
Kozlov Sergey,
Nikolskaia Anna,
Larina Liudmila,
Vildanova Marina,
Vishnev Alexei,
Shevaleevskiy Oleg
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.201532982
Subject(s) - dye sensitized solar cell , materials science , nanocrystalline material , doping , chemical engineering , mesoporous material , energy conversion efficiency , solar cell , hydrothermal synthesis , nanotechnology , hydrothermal circulation , electrode , optoelectronics , chemistry , electrolyte , catalysis , biochemistry , engineering
The improvement of dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) performance can be realized by using rare‐earth and Nb‐doped TiO 2 mesoporous photoelectrodes. The undoped, Nb‐doped, and rare‐earth‐doped TiO 2 mesoscopic layers were prepared using a sol–gel method followed by a hydrothermal treatment. The Nb content was varied from 0.7 to 2.7 mol.%. The samples of complex rare‐earth titanium oxides with fluorite‐like structure containing Nb were synthesized using mechanical activation method. A series of fluorite‐like Sm 2 [Ti x Nb 1– x ] 2 O 7 compounds with varied Nb content was synthesized. The structure and morphology of obtained materials were characterized using XRD, SEM, and optical absorption spectroscopy. The prepared TiO 2 mesoscopic layers were used for fabrication DSSCs. We have found that the photovoltaic parameters of DSSCs based on TiO 2 sensitized with N719 dye, are closely related to the electronic structure of the Nb‐doped TiO 2 electrodes. The changes of short circuit current of DSSCs were explained in relation to the electronic structure of the TiO 2 electrodes. We have shown that the Nb doping enhances the junctions between neighboring nanoparticles and decreases the bulk electrical resistivity of the TiO 2 electrodes. For the TiO 2 electrodes doped with Nb the best DSSC performance with the energy conversion efficiency of 9.7% was obtained for Ti 0.983 Nb 0.017 O 2 compound with 1.7 mol.% of Nb. Thus we have improved the device efficiency by 9% in comparison with the DSSC based on undoped TiO 2 electrode. The developed rare‐earth doped compounds SmTiNbO were also used for fabrication and characterization of DSSCs. However, unlike Nb‐doped TiO 2 layers, the efficiencies of DSSCs based on Nb‐doped complex rare‐earth titanium oxides were low in comparison with undoped TiO 2 .