Surface Treatment of TiO2 Films by Pulse Plasma for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Application

Surface processing was studied using a dc atmospheric nonthermal plasma jet with nitrogen gas as a method for preparing the glass plate with a fluorine-dope-tin-oxide membrane, coated with titanium oxide (TiO₂) and sintered at 450degC for dye-sensitized solar cells. The results showed that characteristics of the TiO₂ surface were enhanced by the dc atmospheric nonthermal plasma jet and, hence, the energy conversion efficiency increased by 1.3% as compared to samples without surface treatment. From the results of X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and spectroscopic analyses, it was found that the nitrogen radicals (condition from C₃Piu toB₃Pig) generated by the dc atmospheric nonthermal plasma jet were closely related with the enhancement of the energy conversion efficiency.