Flexible Metallic Substrates for TiO2 Film of Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

The effects of metallic supporting substrates in nanocrystalline TiO2 working electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells on photocurrent–voltage (J–V) characteristics were investigated. For W, Ti, stainless steel, and Zn that can produce semiconductor oxides during annealing, the short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc) is related to the conduction band energy levels of the metal oxides. The metals that produce insulating oxides, Al, Co, and Ni, were found to be also useful supporting substrates when both thin layers of ITO and SiOx were sputtered on the metal surfaces.