Comprehensive performance analysis of dye-sensitized solar cells using single layer TiO2 photoanode deposited using screen printing technique

Abstract A single-layer N719 sensitized nanocrystalline TiO2 films have been successfully deposited on FTO-coated glass substrates using the screen-printing technique with four different thicknesses (10, 12, 14 and 18 µm) and used as simple and low cost photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The thickness was controlled by adjusting the distance between the screen-printing mesh and the FTO-coated substrate using the two height control bolts. The films were deposited using one-time screen-printing method. So that the multiple screen-printing and annealing cycles can be reduced. Furthermore, the cell fabrication time was reduced as well as the problem of recombination at the interfacial layers between the TiO2 films was avoided. The thickness of the TiO2 films was measured by the surface profilometer. The prepared photoanode samples were characterized using FESEM, EDX, AFM, and UV–vis-NIR spectroscopies. The ruthenium dye soaking time was optimized at 48 h. The photovoltaic parameters such as short circuit current density (Isc), open-circuit voltage (Voc), fill factor (FF) and power conversion efficiency (η) were measured for fabricated cells at room temperature under one sunlight 100 mW/cm2 illumination using the solar simulator. The effect of TiO2 film thickness on the fabricated DSSCs performance parameters was studied. DSSC devices with average thickness 12µm achieved the highest conversion efficiency of 5.13 % with Jsc = 12.12 mA/cm2, and Voc = 0.69 V. The obtained results revealed that the amount of the adsorbed dye increases with the increase in the TiO2 film thickness and thus improve photogenerated current. However, exceeding the optimum photoanode thickness results in decline in the photogenerated current and the overall efficiency due to back electrons recombination and the lower photoanode transmittance.