Wide-low energy coupled semi-conductor layers of TiO2 - CdX boosting the performance of DSSC

This investigation involves design and fabrication of CdSe overlayer on titania substrate that produces a highly functional DSSC (dye sensitized solar cell) anode using commercial N-3 as the sensitizer dye. CdSe nanoparticles were deposited on TiO2 through periodic voltammetry under variable (10 - 130) cycle scans. Matrix morphology and optical parameters of the TiO2 - CdSe fabricated layer were respectively determined by electron microscopy and UV-Visible spectroscopy. Output performance of the cell under illumination was recorded by current density-voltage measurements, transient photo response, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and incident photon to current conversion efficiency, while chrono-amperometry was used to derive durability of the cell. Remarkable output parameters were obtained for the optimized CdSe - TiO2 photo-anode loaded under 70 cycles showing, 13.29% photo conversion efficiency (PCE) and 15.30 mA cm(-2) short circuit current density (JSC) for the operating DSSC. Similar investigations were extended to other chalcogenide NPs (CdTe and CdS) embedded on TiO2 for comparative study, whereby CdSe - TiO2 system was identified as the best performing DSSC anode matrix facilitating electron injection by the concerted effort of aligned energy band levels.