Preparation and Thickness Optimization of TiO2/Nb2O5 Photoanode for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

In recent years, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have received much attention as an alternative to silicon-based solar cells due to their various advantages. It is one of the possible options for large-scale roll-to-roll production of photovoltaic cells, on flexible plastic or glass substrates. Nonetheless, due to technical constraints, the maximum efficiency is only half the efficiency of conventional solar cells. Therefore improving the efficiency of DSSC technology is critical for widespread adoption. This work will attempt to summarize the influence of adding mesoporous Nb2O5 nanoparticle in different percentage of weight to TiO2 photoanode. Prepared TiO2/Nb2O5 nanocomposites are characterized using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, XRD and FESEM. DSSCs are fabricated and studied for their photovoltaic performance under the illumination of simulated sunlight of 100mWcm(-2). Adding Nb2O5 nanoparticles has resulted in an increase of short-circuit current density (J(sc)) and efficiency (eta) significantly. Also, an attempt has been made to optimize the film thickness by studying efficiency as a function of film thickness. The cell with 24 mu m thick electrode emerges as an optimized cell with remarkable performance. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.