Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Publication
    Spray deposited NiOx films on ITO substrates as photoactive electrodes for p-type dye-sensitized solar cells
    Spray deposition followed by sintering of nickel oxide (NiO x ) nanoparticles (average diameter: 40 nm) has been chosen as method of deposition of mesoporous NiO x coatings onto indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates. This procedure allows the scalable preparation of NiO x samples with large surface area (~103 times the geometrical area) and its potential for applications such as electrocatalysis or electrochemical solar energy conversion, which require high electroactivity in confined systems. The potential of these NiO x films as semiconducting cathodes for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) purposes has been evaluated for 0.3–3-μm-thick films of NiO x sensitized with erythrosine B (ERY). The electrochemical processes involving the NiO x coatings in the pristine and sensitized states were examined and indicated surface confinement as demonstrated by the linear dependence of the current densities with the scan rate of the cyclic voltammetry. Cathodic polarization of NiO x on ITO can also lead to the irreversible reduction of the underlying ITO substrate because of the mesoporous nature of the sintered NiO x film that allows the shunting of ITO to the electrolyte. ITO-based reduction processes alter irreversibly the properties of charge transfer through the ITO/NiOx interface and limit the range of potential to NiO x coatings sintered for DSC purposes.
    Scopus© Citations 35  793
  • Publication
    Dye sensitised solar cells with nickel oxide photocathodes prepared via scalable microwave sintering
    Photoactive NiO electrodes for cathodic dye-sensitised solar cells (p-DSCs) have been prepared with thicknesses ranging between 0.4 and 3.0 mm by spray-depositing pre-formed NiO nanoparticles on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrates. The larger thicknesses were obtained in sequential sintering steps using a conventional furnace (CS) and a newly developed rapid discharge sintering (RDS) method. The latter procedure is employed for the first time for the preparation of p-DSCs. In particular, RDS represents a scalable procedure that is based on microwave-assisted plasma formation that allows the production in series of mesoporous NiO electrodes with large surface areas for p-type cell photocathodes. RDS possesses the unique feature of transmitting heat from the bulk of the system towards its outer interfaces with controlled confinement of the heating zone. The use of RDS results in a drastic reduction of processing times with respect to other deposition methods that involve heating/calcination steps with associated reduced costs in terms of energy. P1-dye sensitized NiO electrodes obtained via the RDS procedure have been tested in DSC devices and their performances have been analysed and compared with those of cathodic DSCs derived from CS-deposited samples. The largest conversion efficiencies (0.12%) and incident photon-to-current conversion efficiencies, IPCEs (50%), were obtained with sintered NiO electrodes having thicknesses of B1.5–2.0 mm. In all the devices, the photogenerated holes in NiO live significantly longer (th B 1 s) than have previously been reported for P1-sensitized NiO photocathodes. In addition, P1-sensitised sintered electrodes give rise to relatively high photovoltages (up to 135 mV) when the triiodide–iodide redox couple is used.
      2386Scopus© Citations 67