Abstract
Some of factors affecting photo-conversion efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are discussed in terms of $TiO_2$ electrodes. The first topic is on the surface modification of $TiO_2$ nano-particles, which is associated with electron traps on the surface of $TiO_2$ nano-particles. The surface is modified with dye molecules under pressurized $CO_2$ atmosphere to increase the surface coverage of $TiO_2$ nano-particles with dye molecules. This increases Jsc because of an increase in the amount of dye molecules and a decrease in the amount of trapping sites on $TiO_2$ nano-particles. In addition, the decrease in the amount of trap sites increases Voc because decreases in Voc are brought about by the recombination of $I_2$ molecules with electrons trapped on the $TiO_2$ surfaces. Selective staining for tandem cells is proposed. The second topic is on the contact between a $SnO_2$/F transparent conductive layer (TCL) and nano-particles. Polishing the TCL surfaces with silica nano-particles increases the contact, resulting in Jsc increases. The third topic is the fabrication of ion-paths in $TiO_2$ layers. Electro-spray coating of $TiO_2$ nano-particles onto TCL is shown to be effective for fabricating ion-paths in $TiO_2$ layers, which increases Jsc.