Comparative analysis of the photoelectrochemical properties of microwave plasma sintered NiO films for p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) with different colorants: Evidence of a correlation between cell efficiency and charge recombination resistance

Franco Decker^a, Danilo Dini^a, Aldo Di Carlo^b

^aDept. of Chemistry-University of Rome

^bDept. electrical engineering, Chose, Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics 2015 (HOPV15)

Roma, Italy, 2015 May 11th - 13th

Organizer: Filippo De Angelis

Poster, Danilo Dini, 024
Publication date: 5th February 2015

Mesoporous NiO in the configuration of thin film (thickness: 0.5-3.5 µm) presents photoelectrochemical activity either in the bare or in the sensitized state towards the reduction of triiodide to iodide under solar irradiation. The photoelectroactivity of the undyed oxide prepared via microwave plasma sintering has been observed in the spectral range 300-500 nm with the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) reaching a maximum of 8.7% at 375 nm. Upon sensitization the intrinsic photoelectrochemical activity of NiO was either enhanced or depressed depending on the nature of the dye-sensitizer. The comparative analysis of the characteristic curves and IPCE profiles of the p-DSCs based on bare NiO and four differently sensitized NiO cathodes reveals that N719, black dye, and commercial squaraine 2 decrease the efficiency of conversion of dyed NiO with respect to bare NiO in the range of photoelectroactivity of the latter, i.e. 300-500 nm. the fourth dye P1 represents the sole exception since its employment brings about an enhancement of the quantum efficiency of P1-sensitized vs unsensitized NiO up to a maximum of 21% within the spectral interval of reference for NiO (300-500 nm). Outside the range of NiO photoelectrochemical activity , i.e. lambda > 500 nm, only N719 does not introduce a gain of quantum efficiency with respect to bare NiO despite the observation of spectral sensitization up to 580 nm for N719-sensitized NiO. The impedance spectra recorded under illumination showed a direct correlation between the overall efficiency of the differently sensitized p-DSCs and the amplitude of the semicircle which is generally associated with the process of charge recombination at the electrode/electrolyte interface. In fact, the efficiency decreases with the increase of the recombination resistance in NiO based p-DSCs (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Impedance spectra of the DSCs sensitised with N719, SQ2, P1 and BD compared with that of the cell with bare NiO cathode at VOC under one sun of illumination.

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