simple recipe for an efficient TiO₂ nanofiber-based dye-sensitized solar cell

Development of highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with good photovoltaic parameters is an active research area of current global interest. In this article, we provide a simple recipe for the fabrication of electrospun TiO₂ nanorod-based efficient dye-sensitized solar cell using a Pechini-type sol. The Pechini-type sol of TiO₂ nanofibers produces a highly porous and compact layer of TiO₂ upon doctor-blading and sintering without the need for an adhesion and scattering layers or TiCl₄ treatment. The best nanofiber DSSCs with an area of ∼0.28cm² shows an efficiency of ∼4.2% under standard test conditions (100mW/cm², 25°C and AM1.5 G) and an incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) of ∼50%. Impedance measurements show lower charge transfer resistance that improved the fill factor. We believe that simple approaches such as the present one to develop nanofiber DSSCs would open up enormous possibilities in effective harvesting of solar energy for commercial applications, considering the fact that electrospinning is a cost-effective method for the mass scale production of nanofibers and nanorods.