Photovoltaic performance of MOF-derived transition metal doped titania-based photoanodes for DSSCs

The enduring effort toward stabilizing and improving the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) has stirred the solar research community to follow innovative approaches. Current research centered on electrode materials design, which improves photoanodes' light-harvesting efficiency (LHE). Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a new family of materials that can be used as competent materials due to their desirable qualities, including high porosity, flexible synthesis methodology, high thermal and chemical stability, and good light-harvesting capabilities. MOF-derived porous photoanodes can effectively adsorb dye molecules and improve LHE, resulting in high power conversion efficiency (PCE). Doping is a prospective methodology to tune the bandgap and broaden spectral absorption. Hence, a novel and cost-effective synthesis of high surface area transition metal (TM) doped TiO2 nanocrystals (NCs) via the metal-organic framework route for DSSCs is reported here. Among the TM dopants (i.e., Mn, Fe, Ni), a remarkable PCE of 7.03% was obtained for nickel-doped samples with increased Jsc (14.66 mA/cm(2)) due to the bandgap narrowing and porous morphology of TiO2. The findings were further confirmed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and dye-desorption experiments. The present study expedites a promising way to enhance the LHE for many innovative optoelectronic devices.

Automated summary

The research on improving dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) has focused on electrode materials design, particularly the use of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) as competent materials. MOF-derived porous photoanodes can effectively improve light-harvesting efficiency (LHE) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) due to their desirable qualities. In this study, a novel and cost-effective synthesis of high surface area transition metal (TM) doped TiO2 nanocrystals (NCs) via the metal-organic framework route was reported. The nickel-doped samples showed a remarkable PCE of 7.03% with increased Jsc, demonstrating the potential of enhancing LHE for optoelectronic devices.