Enhanced power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells assisted with phosphor materials

Theoretically dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are high efficiency solar cells. However, DSSCs have lower power conversion efficiency (PCE) than silicon based solar cells. In this study, we use scattering layer and phosphor materials, such as ZrO 2 and Zn 2 SiO 4 :Mn (Green), to enhance the PCE of DSSCs. The scattering layer and phosphor materials were prepared and used as an effective scattering layer on the transparent TiO 2 photoelectrode through the doctor blade method. We confirmed that the scattering layer improves the PCE and J sc due to the enhancement of light harvesting by increasing the scattering and absorbance in the visible range. Under sun illumination AM 1.5 conditions, the PCE of the mesoporous TiO 2 based DSSCs was 5.18%. The PCE of the DSSCs with ZrO 2 scattering layer was 5.61% and Zn 2 SiO 4 :Mn as the scattering layer was enhanced to 5.72%. In order to compare the change in optical properties, DSSCs were measured by EQE, reflectance and PCE. At the same time, FE-SEM and XRD were used to confirm the structural changes in each layer.