Issue 17, 2017

Enhanced efficiency of over 10% in dye-sensitized solar cells through C and N single- and co-doped TiO2 single-layer electrodes

Abstract

Herein, we report the impact of single- and co-doping of nanoparticle TiO2 films with carbon and nitrogen on the photovoltaic characteristics of their corresponding dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) devices. Different DSCs with various compositions of the photoanode electrodes are fabricated to study their structural and electronic properties by X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). We find that the interstitial nitrogen atoms for single N doping have a greater impact on the band gap energy (Eg) than the substitutional (to Ti) carbon atoms for single C doping. The short circuit current and efficiency of DSCs are enhanced by C and N single- and co-doping with dominant impression of carbon doping. Furthermore, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements reveal that the electron lifetime, charge transport and recombination resistance of DSCs are improved by C and N single- and co-doping with prominent impact of carbon doping. Therefore, we achieve the highest cell efficiency of 10.2% as a result of a balance between the band gap, surface area, and diffused reflection of the photoanode electrode.

Graphical abstract: Enhanced efficiency of over 10% in dye-sensitized solar cells through C and N single- and co-doped TiO2 single-layer electrodes

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 May 2017
Accepted
21 Jul 2017
First published
04 Aug 2017

New J. Chem., 2017,41, 9453-9460

Enhanced efficiency of over 10% in dye-sensitized solar cells through C and N single- and co-doped TiO2 single-layer electrodes

H. Asgari Moghaddam, S. Jafari and M. R. Mohammadi, New J. Chem., 2017, 41, 9453 DOI: 10.1039/C7NJ01535F

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