Hybrid Titania Photoanodes with a Nanostructured Multi-Layer
Configuration for Highly Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
- Publication date
- Publisher
Abstract
To construct a hybrid titania photoanode
containing nanoparticles
and nanorods of varied size in a multilayer (ML) configuration for
dye-sensitized solar cells, the essence of our ML design is a bilayer
system with additional layers of nanorods of well-controlled size
inserted between the transparent and the scattering layers to enhance
the light-harvesting capability for photosensitizers with small absorptivity,
such as Z907. We measured charge-extraction and intensity-modulated
photoelectric spectra to show the advantages of one-dimensional nanorods
with an improved electron-transport property and an upward shift of
the potential band edge; a favorable ML configuration was constructed
to have a cascade potential feature for feasible electron transport
from long nanorods, to normal nanorods, to small nanoparticles. On
the basis of the ML system reported herein, we demonstrate how the
performance of a Z907 device is improved to attain η ∼10%,
which is a milestone for its future commercialization