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Enhanced power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells with samarium doped TiO2 photoanodes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2017

Meihua Liu ,
Yuchen Hou  and
Xiaofei Qu
Meihua Liu
Affiliation:
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
Yuchen Hou
Affiliation:
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
Xiaofei Qu*
Affiliation:
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

In this study, TiO2 photoanodes doped with samarium ions via a method of hydrothermal treatment were used to fabricate dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Different doping concentrations were investigated on the effects of the cell’s performance. Some techniques including XRD, scanning electron microscopy, HRTEM, XPS, UV-Vis, photoluminescence were used to characterize the morphology, structure, and optic properties of the prepared photoanodes. The photovoltaic performance of the fabricated cells was further evaluated by measuring the current density–voltage (J–V) curves. It was found that: (1) The down-conversion luminescence effect derived from samarium doping could enhance the light-harvesting ability. (2) Compared with the undoped sample, the samarium-doped cells exhibited enhanced photovoltaic performance. Among the cells with different doping concentrations, the cell TiO2:0.015 Sm showed the best power conversion efficiency of 6.08% with a high open-circuit voltage (V oc) and a short-circuit current density (J sc).

Keywords

barrier layerdevicesoxide
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 32 , Issue 18 , 28 September 2017 , pp. 3469 - 3476
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Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2017 

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Footnotes

Contributing Editor: Xiaobo Chen

References

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