Optimization of ITO glass/TiO2 based DSSC photo-anodes through electrophoretic deposition and sintering techniques

Abstract

In the current study, TiO2 layers were deposited onto Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates at varied voltage levels ranging from 2.5 VDC to 7.5 VDC, using Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process. Subsequently, the deposited TiO2 layers were either sintered by using a single step (450 °C) or double step (350 °C, 450 °C) sintering process. The fabricated films were later dye stained and integrated with Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs). Upon the morphological and electrical characterization of the samples, it was revealed that the DSSCs containing a semiconductor layer deposited at 5 V, having a thickness of ~20 µm and an average pore size of ~30 nm produced the highest power conversion efficiency (of 4.2%) amongst all the EPD variants employed, owing to the optimized thickness and dye loading properties. The efficiency further increased to 4.5%, when the single step sintering process was replaced by two step sintering processes