Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Based on Porous Hollow Tin Oxide Nanofibers

Author

Sigdel, Sudhan ; Elbohy, Hytham ; Jiawei Gong ; Adhikari, Nirmal ; Sumathy, Krishnan ; Hui Qiao ; Qufu Wei ; Sayyad, Muhammad Hassan ; Jiantao Zai ; Xuefeng Qian ; Qiquan Qiao

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., South Dakota State Univ., Brookings, SD, USA

Volume

62

Issue

6

fYear

2015

fDate

Jun-15

Firstpage

2027

Lastpage

2032

Abstract

Porous hollow tin oxide (SnO₂) nanofibers and their composite with titanium dioxide (TiO₂) particles (Degussa P25) were investigated as a photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells. Incorporation of TiO₂ particles in porous hollow SnO₂ fibers enhanced the power conversion efficiency (η) from 4.06% to 5.72% under 100-mW/cm² light intensity. The enhancement of efficiency was mainly attributed to increase in current density (J_sc) and improvement in fill factor (FF). Increase in J_sc was caused by higher dye loading as indicated by UV-Vis absorption spectra and the improvement in FF was attributed to faster charge transport time as obtained from transient analysis. The microstructure of SnO₂ fibers was studied using transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope, and X-ray diffraction. The electron transfer and recombination life times were studied using transient analysis, whereas interfacial charge transfer was studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

Keywords

X-ray diffraction; charge exchange; current density; dye-sensitised solar cells; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; nanofibres; scanning electron microscopy; tin compounds; transient analysis; transmission electron microscopy; UV-Vis absorption spectra; X-ray diffraction; current density; dye loading; dye-sensitized solar cells; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; electron transfer; fill factor; interfacial charge transfer; photoanode; porous hollow tin oxide nanofibers; power conversion efficiency; recombination life times; scanning electron microscope; titanium dioxide particles; transient analysis; transmission electron microscope; Anodes; Decision support systems; Nanoparticles; Photovoltaic cells; Resistance; Tin; Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs); hollow; nanofibers; porous; tin oxide (SnO₂).; tin oxide (SnO2);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TED.2015.2421475

Filename

7101817