Preparation of photoanode and its application to flexible dye-sensitized solar cells

A TiO2 slurry was prepared by hydrothermal treating mixture of commercial TiO2 (P25), ethanol and distilled water in an autoclave. A flexible photoanode and dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was fabricated on an ITO-coated poly (ethylene naphthalate) sheet (ITO/PEN) substrate by a doctor-blade technique. The sample was characterized with SEM, UV-vis, FTIR, and the photoelectric properties of the DSSC were measured. The influence of preparation conditions on the properties of the flexible DSSC was investigated. It is found that the TiO2 slurry hydrothermally treated in 185A degrees C for 12 h has good stability and uniformity. Based on the slurry, a flexible DSSC with light-to-electric conversion efficiencies of 3.4% is achieved under irradiation with a simulate solar light intensity of 100 mW/cm(2).