Effect of Heat Treatment on CNT/TiO2 Photoelectrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Application

Abstract

In this research, the CNT/TiO2 nanocomposite solution was prepared using sol-gel method process. Definite amounts of CNT (0.06 g) were sonicated in 30 ml anhydrate 2-propanol. The measured quantities of Titanium (IV) Tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) – 5 ml were introduced into the CNT/2-propanol solution. The CNT/TiO2 paste was doctor-bladed onto the FTO glass and consequently annealed at 250 °C, 350 °C and 450 °C for 30 min. The effect of annealing temperatures on the CNT/TiO2 thin films was discussed. The CNT/TiO2 thin films were characterized for morphological and electrical performance by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Incident Photon to Charge Carrier Efficiency (IPCE) and IV-Curve Efficiency analysis. The XRD patterns show the thin films major peak at (101) with average anatase phase crystallite size. The CNT/TiO2 thin film's morphological structure composed of compressed and porous distributed composition. The crystal structures were changed upon increasing the annealing temperature. The IV measurement shows that the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) at 450 °C produced highest photoelectric conversion efficiency (η) with 3.88 %. IPCE graph shows the solar cell absorb light within the UV spectrum region. It is revealed that annealing temperature has influence toward photovoltaic performance of the assembled DSSC.