Electron transport in dye-sanitized solar cell with tin-doped titanium dioxide as photoanode materials

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics Vol. 33; no. 8; pp. 5009 - 5023
• Main Authors: Mahmoud, Zaid H., AL-Bayati, Reem Adham, Khadom, Anees A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anatase; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Charge efficiency; Charge transfer; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystallites; Crystallization; Dyes; Electron recombination; Electron transport; Energy conversion; Field emission microscopy; Materials Science; Nanoparticles; Optical and Electronic Materials; Photoanodes; Photoelectrons; Photolysis; Photovoltaic cells; Solar cells; Spectrum analysis; Tin; Titanium dioxide; Titanium nitride; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-021-07690-9

Pure and tin-incorporated TiO 2 (Sn-TiO 2 ) nanoparticles were prepared utilizing photolysis method. Field emission-scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveal the formation of fusiform and spherical agglomeration nanoparticles with mesoporous structure and size that is equal to 20 nm approximately. The preparation of 5%Sn:TiO 2 is confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and the empirical formal is Sn 0.05 TiO 4 . X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirm that they have a 4 nm crystallite size and crystallized as an anatase phase of TiO 2 . X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that 1% Sn 4+ was successfully incorporated with TiO 2 and that Ti 3+ is presented as an electron trap. Raman spectrum shows a higher shift of TiO 2 peaks with in Sn:TiO 2 . The band gap decreases with increasing Sn 4+ incorporating ratio and reaching a minimum value of 2.62 eV corresponding to 5% Sn:TiO 2 , as well as the adsorption spectrum of Sn 4+ -incorporated TiO 2 has an excellent transmittance with increasing Sn 4+ incorporating from 5% weight ratio until reaching 85%. The results obtained that the optimum conditions for working Sn:TiO 2 as a DSSCs are 5%Sn incorporation ratio and pH = 3. EIS measurements were used to quantify the kinetics of interfacial charge transfer, such as chemical capacitance, electron recombination lifespan, charge transfer resistance, charge collection efficiency, and charge transfer resistance. Enhanced power conversion is equal to 12.32% for %5Sn:TiO 2 /based N 3 dye/Ag at pH = 3 by using solar simulator (100 mW/cm 2 ).