Combined strategy to realize efficient photoelectrodes for low temperature fabrication of dye solar cells

We implemented a low-temperature approach to fabricate efficient photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells, which combines three different nanoarchitectures, namely, a highly conductive and highly transparent AZO film, a thin TiO2-blocking layer, and a mesoporous TiO2 nanorod-based working electrode. All the components were processed at T≤200°C. Both the AZO and the TiO2 blocking layers were deposited by reactive sputtering, whereas the TiO2 nanorods were synthesized by surfactant-assisted wet-chemical routes and processed into photoelectrodes in which the native geometric features assured uniform mesoporous structure with effective nanocrystal interconnectivity suitable to maximize light harvesting and electron diffusion. Because of the optimized structure of the TiO2-blocking/AZO bilayer, and thanks to the good adhesion of the TiO2 nanorods over it, a significant enhancement of the charge recombination resistance was demonstrated, this laying on the basis of the outstanding power conversion efficiency achievable through the use of this photoanode's architecture: a value of 4.6% (N719) was achieved with a 4-μm-thick electrode processed at T=200°C. This value noticeably overcomes the current literature limit got on AZO-based cells (N719), which instead use Nb-doped and thicker blocking layers, and thicker nanostructured photoanodes, which have been even sintered at higher temperatures (450-500°C).