Experimental study on reversal structure of photoelectrode in DSSCs

This article presents significant experimental data about the dye-sensitized nano solar cells (DSSCs) using new developed photoelectrode with the reversal structure in our CCT laboratory. The common structure of a photoelectrode from the incident light is the transparent conduction glass, the nano TiO₂ semiconduction porous film, and the dye. In working process of DSSC, the photons energy of the incident light is mainly absorbed by the dye. This causes excited electrons in the dye to jump into conduction band of the TiO₂ and further to transfer into the outer circuit through the conduction glass. The common structure causes the light hindrance of the dye by the TiO₂ semiconduction layer. To reduce the light hindrance of the dye, experimental study in this work used metal mesh to connect the TiO ₂ layer with the outer circuit. In other words, the new developed photoelectrode used the metal mesh as the conduction substrate to coat the nano TiO₂ semiconduction layer and the dye. In this way, the new structure of the photoelectrode from the incident light is the dye, the nano TiO ₂ semiconduction film, and the conduction metal mesh. The new structure increases amounts of the absorbed light in the dye and further receives the improved results of larger short-circuit current and photoelectric conversion efficiency in DSSCs.