Stability of Dye Solar Cells with Photoelectrode on Metal Substrates

In this study, the stability of dye solar cells DSCs with different kinds of metals as the photoelectrode substrate is studied.Stainless steels StSs, Inconel, and titanium substrates were tested to find stable substrate options. Photovoltaic characterization,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy EIS, scanning electron microscopy, and substrate polarization measurements were usedin the characterization. DSCs based on different grades of StS suffered from rapid degradation of efficiency within few hours inlight soaking. Good stability was demonstrated with DSCs with Inconel and Ti photoelectrode substrates. The Inconel substrateshave a thick passive oxide layer, which is likely related to good stability. However, according to the EIS analysis, the oxide layerof Inconel substrates increased resistive losses, which caused a lower fill factor and photovoltaic efficiency compared to theTi-based cells.© 2010 The Electrochemical Society. DOI: 10.1149/1.3374645 All rights reserved.Manuscript submitted December 17, 2009; revised manuscript received February 19, 2010. Published April 21, 2010.

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