Optimization of TiO2 photoelectrode with titanium isopropoxide for flexible dye sensitized solar cells

Flexible DSSC uses plastic substrate such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to deposit photoelectrode, resulting in poor photoconversion efficiency of the solar cell due to the low temperature applied in the fabrication process. In this research, optimization process was examined in order to optimize the performance of flexible DSSC by adding titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) as a binder to TiO2 paste for DSSC photoelectrode. Small portion of TTIP with molar percentages of 0%, 5%, and 10% were added to a mixture of TiO2 nanocrystaline, butanol, DI water, and reflector powder. The mixtures were stirred using a magnetic stirrer for 24 hours. Each of various pastes was then deposited on a plastic substrate with doctor blade method on 1 cm2 area. The films were sintered at temperature of 150 °C for 4 hours and soaked in dye solution for 24 hours. Furthermore, TiO2 photoelectrode and Pt counter electrode were assembled and injected by electrolyte. Flexible DSSCs were characterized by SEM and XRD to determine their morphological structures. J-V measurement was performed by sun simulator to calculate DSSC photoconversion efficiency. The optimum performance of flexible DSSC was achieved by DSSC with 10 mol% TTIP content.