First Demonstration of Surface Passivation in Dye-Sensitized TiO2 Solar Cells by an Additive in the Electrolyte

Conference · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2005

OSTI ID:860842

Kopidakis, N; Neale, N R; van de Lagemaat, J; Frank, A J

The composition of the electrolyte is known to greatly influence the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells. It has been speculated that some components of the electrolyte passivate the TiO2 surface against recombination; however, this has never been confirmed experimentally. We hereby present the first case of passivation of the TiO2 surface against recombination by an additive in the electrolyte. Even though the additive also causes a downward movement of the TiO2 bands, suppression of recombination prevails and an overall improvement in open-circuit photovoltage is observed. This work was conducted in collaboration with the DOE Office of Science program.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-99-GO10337
• OSTI ID: 860842
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-520-37055; TRN: US200524%%334
• Resource Relation: Related Information: Presented at the 2004 DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program Review Meeting, 25-28 October 2004, Denver, Colorado. Also included in the proceedings available on CD-ROM (DOE/GO-102005-2067; NREL/CD-520-37140)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ADDITIVES
ELECTROLYTES
PASSIVATION
PERFORMANCE
RECOMBINATION
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR ENERGY
PV
DYE-SENSITIZED PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
NANOCRYSTALLINE
OPEN-CIRCUIT VOLTAGE
ELECTROLYTE
PHOTOINDUCED CHARGE DENSITY
SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENT
Basic Sciences
Solar Energy - Photovoltaics