Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of dye-sensitized solar cells with thermally degraded N719 loaded TiO2

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2013.08.101
• Publication Date: 2013-08-31T14:46:35Z
• Authors: Subrata Sarker; Hyun Woo Seo; Dong Min Kim
• Keywords: Photocurrent; Photoconductivity

Abstract Here, we have deliberately degraded N719 loaded TiO 2 photoelectrodes (PEs) at elevated temperatures; for example, from 80 °C to 160 °C with a step of 40 °C and studied their influence on photovoltaic parameters of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) study shows that the thermal degraded PEs suffered from increased recombination as well as downward shift of TiO 2 conduction band that eventually decreased photovoltage of the cells. In contrast, incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) reveals that poor light harvesting, charge collection and dye regeneration efficiency were responsible for low photocurrent of the DSSCs with thermal degraded PEs.