Impact of Fe doping on performances of CuGaO2 p-type dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract Delafossite materials like CuGaO 2 have been receiving much attention due to their potential role in the elaboration of future tandem dye sensitized solar cells. P-type CuGa 1− x Fe x O 2 (0≤ x ≤0.05) with delafossite structure has been obtained by hydrothermal method. Fe-doped and undoped CuGaO 2 thin films have been investigated as cathode elements in N719 dye-sensitized solar cells. Integration of iron dopants in the delafossite structure improves the photovoltaic performance of CuGaO 2 thin films both due to excellent optical transparency of CuGaO 2 in the visible range and its high electrical conductivity. Also Fe leads to a pronounced hydrophilic character and to a higher dye uptake than the undoped sample.