Preparation of mesoporous NiO electrodes via screen-printing method for the realization of photoelectrochemical devices of p-type which utilize organic dye-sensitizers

Franco Decker^a, Danilo Dini^a, Claudia Barolo^b, Aldo Di Carlo^c

^aDept. of Chemistry-University of Rome

^bDept. of Chemistry, Uni Torino, Italy, via Pietro Giuria 7, Torino, Italy

^cCentre for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy, Department of Electronic Engineering, via del Politecnico 1, 00133, Rome, Italy

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics 2015 (HOPV15)

Roma, Italy, 2015 May 11th - 13th

Organizer: Filippo De Angelis

Poster, Danilo Dini, 059
Publication date: 5th February 2015

Semiconducting mesoporous nickel oxide of p-type was prepared with the screen printing method.[1] This involves the sintering of preformed nickel oxide nanoparticles (diameter: 20-50 nm) at a controlled temperature and with a well defined duration of the heating step. The resulting oxide presented non-stoichiometric features (general formula: NiO_x with 1 < x < 1.5), and had a quasi transparent appearance in the visible spectrum when it was deposited as thin film with thickness < 3 µm.This combination of features allowed the employment of screen-printed NiO_xas photoactive cathode in p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (p-DSCs) [2] when several organic colorants were used as sensitizers, and the redox shuttle was the couple triiodide/iodide. In particular, NiO_x was sensitized with erythrosine b (the dye-benchmark),[3] and a series of symmetrical, multi-dentate squaraines,[4] which all imparted considerable photoelectrochemical activity in sensitized NiO_x(Figure1).To increase dye-loading on the metal oxide and improve the efficaciousness of the sensitization, we considered several thermal and chemical treatments which consisted in the activation of the surface of the oxide prior to sensitization, in the variation of the chemical composition and temperature of the tincture solution, and the variation of the dipping time for the electrode. The comparative analysis of the J-V and IPCE curves for the NiO_x-based p-DSCs prepared under different conditions of sensitization showed an optimum of conversion efficiency when the surface of nickel oxide was pre-treated with alkali, the temperature of the solution of tincture was kept at 60-65°C, and the dipping time was prolonged up to 16 hours for the same sensitizer.
Fig.1. Profiles of external quantum efficiency (EQE) vs wavelength for the p-DSCs based on screen-printed NiO. With the exception of E.B. (erythrosine b) all other symbols refer to different squaraine dyes.
1. M. Späth et al., Prog. Photovolt. Res. Appl. 2003, 11, 207 2. E. Gibson et al., Phys.Chem. Chem. Phys. 2013, 15, 2411 3. M. Awais et al., ChemElectroChem 2014, 2, 384 4. I. Venditti et al., Mater. Res. Express 2014, 1, 015040

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