Performance of CoTiO3 as an oxide perovskite material for the light scattering layer of dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Light scattering layers can play an essential role in the transport characteristics of charge carriers and the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Perovskite oxide materials have recently attracted considerable attention as light scattering materials due to their optical and structural properties. Herein, we synthesized TiO₂–CoTiO₃ composites with a facile room temperature sol–gel procedure for use as a light scattering layer in the photoanode of DSSC devices. TiO₂–CoTiO₃ composites were applied as monolayer photoanodes and bilayered films on a nano-TiO₂ photoactive layer. Microstructural investigations of the composite photoanodes showed a bimodal texture consisting of CoTiO₃ coarse and TiO₂ fine particles. CoTiO₃ containing photoanodes exhibited a higher light scattering property and lower dye adsorption amount compared to the control pristine TiO₂ electrode. Photovoltaic metrics of fabricated DSSC devices with different contents of CoTiO₃ in mono- and bilayered configurations were recorded under simulated AM 1.5 sunlight, suggesting that the photovoltaic performance of the devices improved in the presence of the TiO₂–CoTiO₃ scattering layer. Interestingly, no considerable difference in photovoltaic operation of CoTiO₃ in the mono- and bilayered configurations was achieved (i.e., photoconversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.46% and 7.67% for mono- and bilayered devices, respectively). However, their PCEs are about 80% higher than that of the control device without the light scattering layer.