Synthesis of TCO-free Dye-sensitized Solar Cells with Nanoporous Ti Electrodes Using RF Magnetron Sputtering Technology

A new type of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) based on a porous type Ti electrode without using a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer is fabricated for low-cost high-efficient solar cell application. The TCO-free DSC is composed of a glass substrate/dye-sensitized TiO2 nanoparticle/porous Ti layer/electrolyte/Pt sputtered counter electrode. The porous Ti electrode (similar to 350 nm thickness) with high conductivity can collect electrons from the TiO2 layer and allows the ionic diffusion of I-/I-3(-) through the hole. The vacuum annealing treatment is important with respect to the interfacial necking between the metal Ti and porous TiO2 layer. The efficiency of the prepared TCO-free DSC sample is about 3.5% (ff: 0.48, V-oc: 0.64V, J(sc): 11.14 mA/cm(2)).