KCS

Dye-sensitized solar cell is composed of a dye-adsorbed nanocrystalline TiO2 film, redox electrolyte and metallic film. There are several factors affecting photovoltaic performances. We report here how the structural and material design and interfacial nano-engineering improve solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency, associated with light confinement and suppression of recombination. For structural design, effect of scattering particle size on light scattering efficiency has been investigated. Significant improvement and strong size-dependence upon deposition of scattering overlayer on the relatively thinner TiO2 underlayer film is observed, which is associated with the quantity and wavelength of transmitted light and the difference in scattering particle size. Nano-embossing hallow sphere was developed, which exhibits both light scattering and charge generation effects. The best efficiency of 11% has been achieved under AM 1.5G one sun light intensity using optimal film structure and light scattering conditions.