Nanostructured TiO2 thin films for DSSCs prepared by sol gel technique

In this research, nanostructured TiO2 thin films were prepared by sol-gel technique for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were investigated. The nanostructured thin films were prepared using commercial Titania powder (Degussa P25) and titanium (IV) ethoxide (TEOT). The resulting solution were spin-coated on pieces of indium-doped tin oxide (InO2:Sn, ITO) transparent glass (8 Ω/sq, TEC GlassTM) with an area of 10 × 10 mm2 at a rate of 2000 rpm for 30 seconds. The films were annealed in furnace at 450 °C for 60 min. The working electrode was then immersed in the solution of N-719 (Ruthenium) dye at room temperature for 24 h. A thin film of platinum (Pt) was deposited on the ITO-glass substrate as the counter electrode using print-screen technique. The structures, morphological and optical properties of the films, were examined using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and UV-VIS spectrometer respectively. The XRD results showed that the crystalline phase of the film was anatase. The micrograph obtained using FESEM demonstrated that the prepared TiO2 film has a nanosructured characteristic. The photovoltaic properties of DSSC was studied under an incident irradiation of 100 mW/cm2. The energy conversion efficiency (η) of the DSSC with nanostuctured TiO2 (P25) and TiO2 was 0.3% and 0.2 % respectively.