Reporting performance in MoS2-TiO2 bilayer and heterojunction films based dye-sensitized photovoltaic devices

Three types of bilayer and heterojunction films photoanodes were designed and fabricated from green synthesized MoS2 and TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs), and then the dye-sensitized solar cells based on these various films photoanodes were investigated. Results demonstrated that layered semiconductor MoS2 could be a viable material candidate for solar cell applications due to its superior photoelectric characteristics. The DSSCs from the MoS2@TiO2 heterojunction film photoanode exhibit the highest solar energy conversion efficiency of 6.02% under AM 1.5G simulated solar irradiation, which is 1.5 times higher than that of the cell from pure TiO2 film photoanode. MoS2-TiO2 heterojunction at the interface helps MoS2 NPs to efficiently collect the photo-injected electrons from TiO2 NPs, thus reduce charge recombination at both the NPs-electrolyte and NPs-dye interfaces. These advantages together with collecting or transferring injected electrons abilities by combining the improved light absorption and the large dye-loading capacity of such structural NPs films, rendering the MoS2-TiO2 composite photoelectrode superior potential for DSSCs applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.