• Membrane Journal
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.80-87
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• 2019

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted great attention as sustainable energy devices. The efficiency and long-term stability of DSSCs are greatly influenced by electrode materials and electrolytes. In this review, we focused on the electrolytes of DSSCs. Polymer electrolyte membranes have been proposed as an alternative to conventional liquid electrolytes in DSSCs. Conventional liquid electrolytes can exhibit a high efficiency, but due to some problems such as poor long-term stability of device and leakage of liquid, much interest in polymer electrolyte membranes continues to rise and the papers on polymer electrolytes membranes have been extensively reported recently. This review covers the concept and development of polymer electrolyte membranes for DSSCs, and discusses the efficiency and electrochemical properties of DSSCs, highlighting the modification of polymer matrix, the introduction of additives such as organic-inorganic plasticizers and ionic liquids.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• 제52권5호
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• pp.380-383
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• 2015

We prepared the $TiO_2$ layer with 0 ~ 4 wt% of polystyrene (PS) beads having a radius of 250 nm to increase the dye adsorption and energy conversion efficiency (ECE) of a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Then, we fabricated DSSCs using $0.45cm^2$ active area. FE-SEM was used to characterize the microstructure consisting of $TiO_2$ layer and PS beads. UV-VIS-NIR was used to determine the optical absorbance of working electrodes (WEs). Solar simulator and potentiostat were used to determine the photovoltaic properties. We observed that pores having a radius of 250 nm were formed with the density of $0.15ea/{\mu}m^2$ in $TiO_2$ layers after conducting the sintering process. The absorbance in visible light regime was found to increase with the increase in the amount of PS beads. The ECE increased from 4.66% to 5.25% when the amount of PS beads was increased from 0 to 4 wt%. This is because the pores of PS beads increased the adsorption of dye. Our results indicate that the ECE of the DSSCs can be enhanced by the addition of an appropriate amount of PS beads into $TiO_2$ layers.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2007년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.309-312
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• 2007

Sputter deposition followed by surface treatment was studied using reactive RF plasma as a method for preparing titanium oxide($TiO_{2}$) films on indium tin oxide(ITO) coated glass substrate for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). Anatase structure $TiO_{2}$ films deposited by reactive RF magnetron sputtering under the conditions of $Ar/O_{2}$(5%) mixtures, RF power of 600W and substrate temperature of $400^{\circ}C$ were surface-treated by inductive coupled plasma(ICP) with $Ar/O_{2}$ mixtures at substrate temperature of $400^{\circ}C$, and thus the films were applied to the DSSCs, The $TiO_{2}$ Films made on these exhibited the BET specific surface area of 95, the pore volume of $0.3cm^{2}$ and the TEM particle size of ${\sim}25$ nm. The DSSCs made of this $TiO_{2}$ material exhibited an energy conversion efficiency of about 2.25% at $100mW/cm^{2}$ light intensity.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.463-466
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• 2008

We report a method to increase the surface area of the titania films used as the anodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by applying additional titania-coating. The modification was achieved by spin-coating a coating solution that contained a surfactant with a titania source onto the titania electrodes, followed by calcination. Previous similar attempts without a surfactant all reported decreased surface areas. We fabricated DSSCs by using the modified titania films as the anode and measured their performances. The increased surface area increased the amount of adsorbed dyes, which resulted in increased current densities. At the same time, the titania-coating increased both the open-circuit voltage and the current density by reducing the charge-recombination rates of the injected electrons, similar to the results of literatures. Therefore, our method shows an additional mechanism to increase the current density of DSSCs in addition to the other mechanisms of surface modifications with titania-coatings.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• 제20권9호
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• pp.483-487
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• 2010

To fabricate $TiO_2$ nanoparticle-based dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) at a low-temperature, DSSCs were fabricated using hydropolymer and ZnO nanoparticles composites for the electron transport layer around a low-temperature ($200^{\circ}C$). ZnO nanoparticle with 20 nm and 60 nm diameter were used and Pt was deposited as a counter electrode on ITO/glass using an RF magnetron sputtering. We investigate the effect of ZnO nanoparticle concentration in hydropolymer and ZnO nanoparticle solution on the photoconversion performance of the low temperature fabricated ($200^{\circ}C$) DSSCs. Using cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,20 bipyridy1-4,40 dicarboxylato) ruthenium (II) bis-tetrabutylammonium (N719) dye as a sensitizer, the corresponding device performance and photo-physical characteristics are investigated through conventional physical characterization techniques. The effect of thickness of the ZnO photoelectrode and the morphology of the ZnO nanoparticles with the variations of hydropolymer to ZnO ratio on the photoconversion performance are also investigated. The morphology of the ZnO layer after sintering was examined using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). 60 nm ZnO nanoparticle DSSCs showed an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) value of about 7% higher than that of 20 nm ZnO nanoparticle DSSCs. The maximum parameters of the short circuit current density ($J_{sc}$), the open circuit potential ($V_{oc}$), fill factor (ff), and efficiency ($\eta$) in the 60 nm ZnO nanoparticle-based DSSC devices were 4.93 mA/$cm^2$, 0.56V, 0.40, and 1.12%, respectively.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2009년도 추계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.360-363
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• 2009

In order to improve the overall power conversion efficiency, it is very important to reduce the interface resistance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In this approach, tiny $TiO_2$ nanoparticles with the primary size of 10~20nm were synthesized and deposited between FTO glass and preformed $TiO_2$ layer by $TiOCl_2$ treatment, and also Pt catalysts were deposited on the counter electrode by both ion-sputter and thermal deposition to reduce the electrolyte-counter electrode interface resistance. The influence of these processes on the performace of DSSCs were discussed in terms of fill factor, short circuit current, and conversion efficiency.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제34권8호
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• pp.2491-2494
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• 2013

The effect of additives in an electrolyte solution on the conversion efficiency of a dye sensitized solar cell was investigated. A density functional theory (DFT) method was used to examine the physical and chemical properties of nitrogen-containing additives adsorbed on a $TiO_2$ surface. Our results show that additives which cause lower partial charges, higher Fermi level shifts, and greater adsorption energies tend to improve the performance of DSSCs. Steric effects that prevent energy losses due to electron recombination were also found to have a positive effect on the conversion efficiency. In this work, 3-amino-5-methylthio-1H-1,2,4-triazole (AMT) has been suggested as a better additive than the most popular additive, TBP, and verified with experiments.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• 제37권5호
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• pp.494-499
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• 2024

The possibility of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) submodule was evaluated as an independent power source that can drive a smart liquid crystal window (SLW) that selectively blocks sunlight when electricity is applied. In order to save energy and increase the functionality of buildings, SLW operation was supplied directly from DSSC submodule, rather than connecting to the existing power system and external power sources. It was confirmed that the SLW can control light transmittance through self-generation using the DSSC submodule composed of 6 cells at low light of 2,500 lux. These results imply that there is a high possibility of combining smart windows and DSSCs suitable for window-type building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems. DSSCs, which can self-generate power in low light, are expected to increase their usability in urban BIPV systems through combination with smart window technology.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2010년도 춘계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.64.2-64.2
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• 2010

In order to improve the overall power conversion efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), it is very important to secure the sufficient surface area of photocatalytic nanoparticles layer for absorbing dye molecules. It is because increasing the amount of dye absorbed generally results in increasing the amount of light harvesting. In this work, we proposed a new method for increasing the specific surface area of photocatalytic titanium oxide ($TiO_2$) nanoparticles by using an inorganic templating method. Salt-$TiO_2$ composite nanoparticles were synthesized in this approach by spray pyrolyzing both the titanium butoxide and sodium chloride solution. After aqueous removal of salt from salt-$TiO_2$ composite nanoparticles, mesoporous $TiO_2$ nanoparticles with pore size of 2~50 nm were formed and then the specific surface area of resulting porous $TiO_2$ nanoparticle was measured by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. Generally, commercially available P-25 with the average primary size of ~25 nm $TiO_2$ nanoparticles was used as an active layer for dye-sensitized solarcells, and the specific surface area of P-25 was found to be ~50 $m^2/g$. On the other hand, the specific surface area of mesoporous $TiO_2$ nanoparticles prepared in this approach was found to be ~286 $m^2/g$, which is 5 times higher than that of P-25. The increased specific surface area of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles will absorb relatively more dye molecules, which can increase the short curcuit current (Jsc) in DSSCs. The influence of nanoporous structures of $TiO_2$ on the performance of DSSCs will be discussed in terms of the amount of dye molecules absorbed, the fill factor, the short circuit current, and the power conversion efficiency.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제32권9호
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• pp.3317-3322
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• 2011

This study examines the photoelectric conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) when nanometer-sized Zr (0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mol %)-$TiO_2$ prepared using a solvothermal method is utilized as the working electrode material. The particle sizes observe in the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images are < 30 nm in all samples. The absorption band is slightly broadened at the tail for the 0.1 mol % Zr-$TiO_2$, and the intensity of the photoluminescence (PL) curves of the Zr-incorporated $TiO_2$ is significantly smaller than that of the pure $TiO_2$. Compared to that using pure $TiO_2$, the energy conversion efficiency is enhanced considerably by the application of Zr-$TiO_2$ in the DSSCs to approximately 6.17% for 0.5 mol % Zr-$TiO_2$ with the N719 dye (10.0 ${\mu}m$ film thickness and 5.0 mm ${\times}$ 5.0 mm cell area) under 100 mW/$cm^2$ of simulated sunlight.