Photovoltaic enhancement of dye-sensitized solar cell prepared from [TiO2/ethyl cellulose/terpineol] paste employing TRITON™ X-based surfactant with carboxylic acid group in the oxyethylene chain end

This paper describes the formulation of nanocrystalline TiO2 paste for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications employing a series of TRITON™ X-based surfactants with an octyl phenol ethoxylate (OPE) backbone and various chain ends. Five different functional group-terminated TRITON™ X (or OPE) derivatives, [OPE5-OH], [OPE5-COOH], [OPE5-NH2], [OPE5-Imidazole], and [OPE5-OPO(OH)2], were prepared from OPE of 5 oxyethylene units (n = 5). The carboxylic acid-terminated TRITON™ X (i.e. OPE5-COOH) was found to be the dispersant showing the lowest viscosity of [TiO2/ethyl cellulose/terpineol] paste. The photoanode film from the TiO2 paste was built up on a conducting glass plate by a screen printing process followed by sintering heat treatments. Then, the TiO2 film showed higher particle density in comparison with the control sample film prepared from the corresponding paste with no dispersant. The solar cell fabricated from the prepared TiO2 film exhibited improved photocurrent characteristics under illumination.