A Study on Characteristics of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells With Plasma-Treated TiO2 Films as a Function of Dye-Adsorption Time

We investigated the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with plasma-treated TiO2 films (P-DSSCs) as a function of dye-adsorption time. Enhanced hydrophilicity of the plasma-treated TiO2 films stimulated the dye-adsorption reaction in the initial stages and as a result the P-DSSCs exhibited superior performance compared to that of DSSCs with nontreated TiO2 films (N-DSSCs). Although the N-DSSCs and the P-DSSCs simultaneously deteriorated due to dye-aggregation after the optimal dye-adsorption time (10 h), the P-DSSCs maintained the superior performance to that of the N-DSSCs irrespective of the dye-adsorption time. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4007296]