Analyzing the efficiency of nanostructured Sm3+-and Gd3+-doped TiO2 and constructing DSSCs using efficacious photoanodes

The rare earth elements, gadolinium and samarium, are doped with TiO2 by hydrothermal synthesis technique to study the photoconversion performance of a photoanode in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The obtained materials are subjected to the characterizations XRD, HR-TEM, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and XPS. DSSCs are fabricated using N719 dye, redox electrolyte, and platinum counter electrode. Charge-transfer ability was investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) on DSSCs. The efficiencies of DSSCs are influenced by the electron transport within the TiO2-dye-electrolyte system. After the fabrication and simulation, among the two, Gd3+-doped TiO2 gives the desired outcomes and higher efficiency (5.542%) than the pure and Sm3+-doped TiO2 and thus it proves to be a superior solar cell anode material.

Automated summary

In this study, rare earth elements gadolinium and samarium were doped into TiO2 to investigate the photoconversion performance in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The results showed that Gd3+-doped TiO2 exhibited higher efficiency and proved to be a superior solar cell anode material.