Conductive and Transparent Multilayer Films for Low-Temperature-Sintered Mesoporous TiO₂ Electrodes of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Conductive transparent thin films made of multilayer coatings consisting of three alternative layers (TiO 2 /Ag/TiO 2, TAT) have been applied to dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). We have used sputtering deposition to prepare the transparent layers and measured the optical properties. Mesoporous TiO 2 electrodes for DSCs were coated on TAT by a spin-coating and low-temperature sintering method. They were compared to well-known transparent metal oxide glasses (ITO and F-doped SnO 2 ). These DSCs on the TAT coatings yielded a short-circuit photocurrent density of 9 mA/cm 2, a photocurrent of 700 mV, and an overall cell efficiency of 3.9% at one sun light intensity.