Fabrication of dye sensitized solar cell using TiO2 coated carbon nanotubes

Abstract We fabricated a dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs) using TiO 2 coated multi-wall carbon nanotubes (TiO 2 -CNTs). Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have excellent electrical conductivity and good chemical stability. We introduced CNTs in DSCs to improve solar cell performance through reduction of series resistance. TiO 2 -CNTs were obtained by Sol–Gel method. Compared with a conventional TiO 2 cell, the TiO 2 -CNTs content (0.1 wt.%) cell showed ∼ 50% increase in conversion efficiency, which is attributed to the increase in short circuit current density ( J sc ). The enhancement in J sc occurs due to improvement in interconnectivity between the TiO 2 particles and the TiO 2 -CNTs in the porous TiO 2 film.