Abstract
Cathodic electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of commercially available TiO2 nanocrystals (P-25 and P-90, Degussa) for the formation of nanoporous electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is reported. Thick, uniform, adherent TiO2 films were obtained from alcoholic suspensions prepared in two steps: first, nanoparticles were treated in an alcoholic suspension with a small amount of acetylacetone; second, the obtained suspension was mixed with a EPD "charging solution" with small additives of iodine, acetone and water. A modified mechanical compression technique was employed to the electrophoretically deposited films to vary the porous structure and thickness of TiO2 layers. By applying non-polar volatile organic liquids to fill the pores of dry TiO2 films before compression, we obtained a substantial improvement in the quality of the pressed films. The fabrication of multilayer electrodes enabled us to obtain TiO2 films with a thickness up to 25 μm and the photoelectric conversion efficiency up to 8.5% under 1 sun illumination.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 52-59 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry |
| Volume | 198 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 5 Jul 2008 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors thank the Israeli Ministry of Science for funding this research. The authors also thank Degussa AG (Germany) for the kind gift of the P-90 TiO 2 nanopowder, and Dr. Judith Grinblat for the HRTEM images.
Funding
The authors thank the Israeli Ministry of Science for funding this research. The authors also thank Degussa AG (Germany) for the kind gift of the P-90 TiO 2 nanopowder, and Dr. Judith Grinblat for the HRTEM images.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Israeli Ministry of Science |
Keywords
- Compression
- Dye-sensitized solar cell
- Electrophoretic deposition