SrTiO3 modified TiO2 electrodes and improved dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cells

The SrTiO3-coated TiO2 (TiO2/SrTiO3) electrodes prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering are used to improve the performance of dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cells by means of surface modification. The structural and performance characterizations reveal that the TiO2/SrTiO3 electrodes, in comparison with fresh TiO2 electrodes, have low density of oxygen vacancies, passivated surface states, and suppressed interfacial recombination effect, thus resulting in improved performance parameters of the cells. An optimized coating of SrTiO3 layer on the TiO2 film surface allows an enhancement of the power conversion efficiency from 4.78% to 5.91%. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3617460]