Effect of Photoanode Modification with Rare-Earth Metal Oxides on DSSC Performance

Modification of DSSC photoanodes by adding various types of materials is a widely used method to improve the performance of electrochemical devices. In this work, selected rare-earth oxide (RE₂O₃) nanoparticles, such as erbium oxide (Er₂O₃), holmium oxide (Ho₂O₃), neodymium oxide (Nd₂O₃), and ytterbium oxide (Yb₂O₃), were applied for photoanode preparation. A simple method for photoanode fabrication based on the direct mixing of oxide nanoparticles with TiO₂ paste was employed. The effect of variation in the rare-earth oxide content in the photoanode was investigated. The prepared composite photoanodes were characterized by XRD and FE-SEM for structural and morphological studies. XRD verified the anatase polymorph of TiO₂; FE-SEM with EDS mapping validated the uniform morphology of the anode and the distribution of RE₂O₃, as well as its amount. The photovoltaic parameters of modified DSSCs based on the current-voltage measurements were analyzed.