Design and Characterization of Organic Solar Cells Containing Nanostructured Semiconductor Thick Films by Cost-Effective Method
D. M. Sampaio1; N. Estevam1; A. Pelagaggi1; E. Thirumal1; A. L. F. de Barros1
1 CEFET/RJ
doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-0594
Resumo
There is increasing research interest on the successful designing of low cost, efficient dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC's), as an alternative energy resource for the next generation. However, the construction of low cost, highly efficient and stable DSSC's defines a challenge for practical applications. In this work, DSSC's containing semiconductor oxides, such as TiO2 (Titanium Dioxide) and Nb2O5 (Niobium Pentoxide) and conducting graphite thick films were prepared with many different techniques. Organic dyes extracted from different fruits and vegetables were used as sensitizers in the DSSC's. After the device's assembly, an annealing process was performed, and the resulting films were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements. Also, the influence of the dye molecules on metal oxides was analyzed. The effect of the dye on diode characteristics, short circuit current (Jsc) and open circuit voltage (Voc) were measured with an without light exposure, as the effect of light intensity on those parameters was also studied, as the decay of the open circuit voltage as a function of time for different kinds of organic dyes. Among the tested organic dyes, carrot juice coated DSSC´s showed long stability and improved Voc (110 mV). The dye extraction, thick film application and measurement setup were designed in the Laboratory of Experimental and Applied Physics (LaFEA - CEFET/RJ) are discussed in this paper. Moreover, we present the first results of our efforts towards the construction, characterization and integration of the DSSC's, already showing promising results for small scale power systems.
Palavras-chave: Semiconductor Nanostructures; Solar Energy; Organic Solar Cells