Power output optimization OF DSSC with Fe-Ni codopant, TiO2 photoanode and carbon nanotubes as counter electrode

• Main Author: Barongan, Nikko M.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/4686
• Institution: De La Salle University

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are seen to be as the promising alternative to silicon solar cell due to its simple and low-cost fabrication. The study made use of Fe-Ni doped TiO2 nanopowder using sol-gel method to form the anode and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) as the counter electrode. The experiment studied on the optimization of the performance of DSSC subjected to different factors such as TiO2 photoanode thickness, concentration of MWCNT counter electrode and incorporation of dopants such as Iron and Nickel to the photoanode component. In fabricating the DSSC, iodide/triiodide under acetonitrile solvent was prepared as electrolyte solution and cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,2-bipyridyl-4,4-dicarboxylato)-ruthenium(II) dye (N3) was used as sensitizer. Three factors were studied using RSM (Box-behnken method). Three different TiO2 photoanode film thicknesses with dopant ratio of Pure Fe, 1:1 Fe-Ni and Pure Ni were combined with three different amounts of MWCNT counter electrodes. The samples were characterized by SEM and UV-Vis spectroscopy to investigate the microstructure of the TiO2 film while XRD was done to investigate the crystalline property and particle size of the doped TiO2. The solar cells were tested under artificial light and sunlight. The optimum setup that gives the maximum power was the TiO2 thickness of 105.44 µm, 625.37 mg of CNT/10 mL solvent counter electrode concentration and dopant ratio of 2.175:1 Fe-Ni doped TiO2 (68.5% Fe, 31.5% Ni). It yielded a maximum efficiency of 3.77% . Doping by sol-gel method for the TiO2 photoanode of DSSC gave a good result for minimizing the cracks developed in its microstructure which resulted into higher efficiency compared to undoped TiO2.