Enhanced performance of dye-sensitized solar cells based on P25/Ta2O5 composite films

In this paper, novel titanium dioxide/tantalum pentoxide (P25/Ta2O5) composite films have been successfully fabricated and applied to dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Ta2O5 nanoparticles are synthesized by a simple low-temperature solvothermal method. The influence of Ta2O5 nanoparticles on photovoltaic performance of DSSCs is systematically investigated. As a result, the DSSC based on 10 wt% Ta2O5 incorporated P25 film exhibits excellent photovoltaic performance with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) as high as 5.85 %. Compared to a reference DSSC based on the pure P25 film (4.93 %), the PCE of DSSCs has been remarkably enhanced by 19 %. Such enhancement can be mainly attributed to the higher electron collection efficiency in P25/Ta2O5 composite films, which result from the suppression of the electron recombination at the photoanode/electrolyte interface.