Coupled analysis of steady-state and dynamic characteristics of dye-sensitized solar cells for determination of conduction band movement and recombination parameters

A new research strategy for determining the conduction band movement of TiO2 films and charge recombination between electrons in the TiO2 film and electron acceptors in the electrolyte was proposed. Steady-state short-circuit current density versus open-circuit voltage was employed to attain the exchange current density and recombination reaction order. Transient photovoltage decay and open-circuit voltage decay measurements were carried out to obtain the energetic distribution of trapped electrons. Reduced voltage-dependent trapped electron concentration and trapped electron concentration-dependent recombination current density were used to analyze influence factors of open-circuit voltage, including contributions from conduction band movement and charge recombination. The simulated and measured electron concentration were in agreement and confirmed the validity of this method for extracting conduction band movement and recombination parameters. This new approach provides a physical insight which could help us to more conveniently and efficiently understand the operation of DSCs.