Comparison of Anatase Titania to Titanate Nanotubes in a Thin-Film Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell with Liquid and Solid Electrolyte

DANIEL BROSNAN: Comparison of Anatase Titania to Titanate Nanotubes in a Thin-Film Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell with Liquid and Solid Electrolyte (Under the direction of Professor Laurie McNeil) In this project, the properties of anatase titanium dioxide and titanate nanotubes were compared with respect to their function as a constituent material for the active layer of a dye-sensitized solar cell. A common cell configuration was used to examine the variation of cell function as a result of differences in composition, use of a solid or liquid electrolyte, and variation of processing and chemical treatment procedure, as well as the interaction of these varied parameters. The work performed in this study consisted of the development of a cell configuration demonstrating good photovoltaic characteristics and repeatable manufacture, determination of parameters relevant to the performance of these photovoltaic devices, manufacture of a set of devices to examine the effects of variation of these parameters, and testing of these devices under standardized conditions to enable comparison of the devices to each other and to published results, as well as to elucidate the underlying causes of observed performance differences. A performance difference between the anatase and nanotube electrodes is demonstrated, with the anatase devices performing as well as or better than nanotube devices for all preparatory conditions, and experiencing a further gain in performance from the substitution of a plasticized polymer electrolyte for the standard liquid electrolyte, compared to no change or worsened performance for nanotube based devices.