Effect of Silver on Enhancing the Performance of TiO2-WO3 Photoanode in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Guilan, P.O. Box: 115-14965, Guilan, Iran

2 Energy Department, Iranian Polymer and Petrochemical Research Institute, P.O. Box: 112-14975, Tehran, Iran

10.30509/jcst.2025.167479.1252

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) face limitations in achieving high efficiency due to the electron recombination phenomenon at the conductive oxide-electrolyte interface. In this study, to enhance the efficiency of DSSCs, TiO2 nanoparticles were doped with WO3 nanostructures and silver. The results revealed that utilizing this combination in the fabrication of the photoanode reduces electron recombination and improves the power conversion efficiency of the solar cells. Morphological analysis of the synthesized nanoparticles was carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The findings of this study showed that the photoanode based on the Ag-TiO2-WO3 ternary nanostructure exhibited better performance compared to photoanodes made of pure TiO2, WO₃, and TiO2-WO3. Specifically, the cell with the Ag-TiO2-WO3 photoanode achieved a short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 13.63 mA/cm² and a power conversion efficiency of 6.87 %. In contrast, cells made with photoanodes of pure TiO2, WO₃, and TiO2-WO3 demonstrated power conversion efficiencies of 3.171, 0.93, and 5.631 %, respectively.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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