Improvement of Short-Circuit Current Density in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Using Sputtered Nanocolumnar TiO2 Compact Layer

The effect of a nanocolumnar TiO2 compact layer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was examined. Such a compact layer was sputtered on a glass substrate with an indium tin oxide (ITO) film using TiO2 powder as the raw material, with a thickness of ~100 nm. The compact layer improved the short-circuit current density and the efficiency of conversion of solar energy to electricity by the DSSC by 53.37% and 59.34%, yielding values of 27.33 mA/cm2 and 9.21%, respectively. The performance was attributed to the effective electron pathways in the TiO2 compact layer, which reduced the back reaction by preventing direct contact between the redox electrolyte and the conductive substrate