A Preliminary Study On The Dye-sensitized Solar Cells And Its Flexiblization

It is thought that dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is a new type of photoelectric chemical solar cell with simple preparation procedure, low cost, stable photo-to-electric and friendly environment action, which make it a good alternative of photo-to-electric devices; in addition there is very important significance. In this paper, TiO2 thin film electrodes were prepared using P25, and were studied. The surface morphology of TiO2 films deposited on conducting glass has been observed by Scan Electron Microscope (SEM). The crystalline structure and crystallographic orientation of TiO2 films were measured by UltimaⅢX-ray Diffractometer (XRD). TiO2 thin film electrodes were sensitized by N3 dye. The photoelectric properties of them were tested and gave Voc=576mV,Isc=15mA and FF=0.45, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 4.83%.Four kinds of PEO polymers with high molecular weight ( Mη=5×105, 1×106, 1.5×106, 2×106) have been prepared as matrix to fabricate gel electrolyte and used in Dye-sensitized solar cells. The surface morphology of gel electrolyte based on PEO was characterized by atomic force microscope (AFM). The conductivity of gel electrolyte was tested and the relation of PEO content against conductivity and molecular weight of PEO against conductivity were studied respectively by conductivity meter. The results indicated that the conductivity values decreased in nonlinearity tendency as the PEO content and molecular weight increased, and the relationship between molecular weight of PEO and electrolyte conductivity followed the analogous Mark-Houwink equation. The photovoltaic property of cell were tested through Linear Sweep Voltammetry method, and the results of I-V curves showed that PEO with different molecular weight Mη=5×105, 1×106 , 1.5×106, 2×106 corresponded to different photoelectric conversion efficiencies 2.09%, 2.01%, 2.43% and 1.68%.In this paper, in order to reduction cost and weight of DSSCs, a new type of counter-electrode consisting of metal fabric with a thick layer of Pt was prepared and used in dye-sensitized solar cells. Light reflection on surface of metal fabric counter-electrode was measured in air at room temperature using a Shimadzu UV-2550 spectrophotometer in the range from 380nm to 780nm. The results show that the light reflection of metal fabric counter-electrode was similar with conducting glass counter-electrode at the range from 520nm to 550nm, the range is the main absorption peak of N3 dye. The photovoltaic property of the cell with metal fabric counter-electrode was measured and gave Voc=520mV,Isc=5.75mA and FF=0.40, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 1.49%. A new thought on reduction cost and flexiblization in DSSCs is made based on the using of metal fabric in counter-electrode.