Atomic layer deposition: A versatile method to enhance TiO₂ nanoparticles interconnection of dye-sensitized solar cell at low temperature

Abstract

A thin TiO2 layer is introduced by atomic layer deposition (ALD) onto the surface of TiO2 host-particles at low-temperature, which serves as binding layer to enhance the interconnection of TiO2 host-nanoparticles of photoelectrode or adhesion of photoelectrode with substrate. The power conversion efficiency of 4.63%, corresponding to 50% enhancement compared with 3.09% of reference cell, is achieved from ALD-treated cell. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirms the reduced internal resistance and much longer electron lifetime in ALD-treated cell. These results suggest that ALD technique can be used as an effective and precise technique to construct efficient dye-sensitized solar cells at low-temperature.