Microstructure characterization of titanium dioxide nanodispersions and thin films for dye-sensitized solar cell devices

This article reports on the microstructure characterization of titanium dioxide nanodispersions and thin films made thereof for dye-sensitized solar cell devices. Structure–property relationships have been investigated mainly using electron microscopy to assess how microstructure (crystalline structure, defects) and morphological (e.g. heterogeneities, inclusions, voids) features in the electron transport element of the solar cell device correlate with electrical performance, namely, short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc). This work shows that for a nanodispersion synthesized in the laboratory different electrical performances are measurable depending on the thin film forming process, more specifically, heat-sintering at 450 °C or pressure-sintering at 500 bar. For the heat-sintered device Jsc is about 7.3 mA/cm2 whereas for the pressure-sintered one this value is much lower, this difference being attributed to the existence of inclusions in the titanium dioxide matrix, which are spatially isolated from the rest of the electron transport element thereby limiting the charge transport process by promoting their premature recombination.