Journal of Ceramic Processing Research

Ceramic Processing Research Center (한양대학교 세라믹연구소)
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Quenching process effects on the performance of a TiO2 photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

  • Woon-Yong Park (Division of Advanced Materials Engineering, Jeonbuk National University) ;
  • Ki-Tae Lee (Division of Advanced Materials Engineering, Jeonbuk National University)
  • Received : 2021.10.28
  • Accepted : 2022.01.10
  • Published : 20220000
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Abstract

A rapid cooling (quenching) step has been introduced in fabrication of TiO2 photoelectrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The quenching process, studied at a fixed sintering temperature, decreased particle size but increased surface roughness without any substantial change in the crystal structure or oxidation state of TiO2 films. Therefore, the change in the DSSC performance induced by the quenching was related closely to the microstructural and morphological changes in the TiO2 films. Smaller particle size and the rough surface of TiO2 films facilitated dye adsorption and increased the number of active reaction sites. In particular, the enlarged number of active reaction sites produced by the quenching process promoted the charge transfer reaction at the TiO2-dye-electrolyte interface, resulting in overall performance improvement of DSSCs. The conversion efficiency of the furnace cooled- and quenched-TiO2 films at 500 ℃ were 4.588% and 5.797%, respectively.

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Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2020R1A2C1004580). This work was also supported by the Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Changes of the National Research Foundation (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (Ministry of Science and ICT) (2017M1A2A2044930). This work was partly supported by Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government (MOTIE) (20213030040110).