Fabrication of Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells Based on Transparent TiO2 Photoanodes

Abstract

While transparent solar cells are highly desired for smart energy devices, the general fabrication method is to sacrifice the film thickness of an electrode in exchange for a certain light transmittance, which limits the device performance. In this work, we developed a facile and economic strategy to prepare transparent TiO2 films, which involved spin-coating n-butyl titanate on conductive FTO glass and sintering at suitable temperature. A transmittance up to [Formula: see text]% in the visible and infrared range could be achieved. With the transparent TiO2 film as photoanode of quantum dot sensitized solar cells, the highest power conversion efficiency was 2.92%. This work inspires new ways for the transparent electrode preparation of solar cells and provides a flexible and practical approach to anti-ultraviolet work, demonstrating its application potential in related fields.