Abstract Submitted for the MAR13 Meeting of The American Physical Society Unconventional Routes for the Enhancement of the Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) Based on Self-Assembled Block Copolymer Nanotemplates

Submitted for the MAR13 Meeting of The American Physical Society Unconventional Routes for the Enhancement of the Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) Based on Self-Assembled Block Copolymer Nanotemplates YOONHEE JANG, DONGHA KIM, Ewha Womans University — We introduce distinctly different and creative two strategies for improving the efficiency of TiO2-based DSSCs by incorporation of tailored hybrid nanostrcutures prepared from self-assembled block copolymer nanotemplates. Firstly, carbonized TiO2 thin layer was incorporated into at the interface either between the transparent electrode and TiO2 NP layers or between the electrolyte and TiO2 NP layers. Massively-ordered arrays of TiO2 dots embedded in carbon matrix were fabricated via direct carbonization of UV-stabilized PS-b-P4VP block copolymer films containing TiO2 sol-gel precursors. DSSCs containing carbon/TiO2 thin layers exhibited remarkably enhanced overall power conversion efficiency compared with DSSCs based on neat TiO2 NPs. Secondly, we introduce a new class of organic/inorganic 1D photonic crystals exhibiting stop bands in the specific wavelength range, which was created by stepwise layer-by-layer deposition of UV-crosslinked BCP reverse micelle layers. The simple yet novel 1D layered BCP films have been introduced into the back-side of the counter electrodes as light reflector in DSSCs system to increase the light harvesting of dye. Yoonhee Jang Ewha Womans University Date submitted: 26 Nov 2012 Electronic form version 1.4