Collector-shell mesoporous electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells

We present results for dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) electrodes based on high surface area indium tin oxide (ITO) coated with an active TiO₂ layer. This design, denoted as a "collector-shell electrode", ensures a distance of several nanometers between the TiO₂electrolyte interface and the current collector throughout the porous electrode, in contrast to several micrometers associated with the standard electrode. The new design also enables an inherent screening capability due to the high doping level of the conductive core matrix. Therefore, the importance of this electrode configuration is its ability to overcome the collection and image field problems in DSSCs, especially for solid-state hole-conductor-based devices. Efficiencies of 1.37% for cells containing ITO-TiO₂ collector-shell electrodes and 1.63% for similar electrodes that received an additional coating of a thin Mg layer were achieved. We expect greater cell performance improvement after optimization of the nature and the size of conductive material particles, the Ti)O₂ shell thickness and uniformity, and the barrier layer(s) properties.