Electrochimica Acta 114 (2013) 318–324

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Electrochimica Acta
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/electacta

Thickness-dependent electron transport performance of mesoporous

TiO2 thin film for dye-sensitized solar cells
Wanyu Zhao, Hari Bala ∗ , Jingkuo Chen, Yujie Zhao, Guang Sun ∗ ,
Jianliang Cao, Zhanying Zhang
School of Materials Science and Engineering; Cultivating Base for Key Laboratory of Environment-Friendly Inorganic Materials in University of Henan
Province, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo 454000, People’s Republic of China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Anatase titania (TiO2 ) nanocrystals with an average size of 12 nm were synthesized by combining sol–gel
Received 8 June 2013 method and hydrothermal crystallization technology. Mesoporous TiO2 thin film electrodes (MTTFEs)
Received in revised form were prepared by variations in layer of screen-printed TiO2 nanocrystals pastes, and dye-sensitized solar
18 September 2013
cells (DSCs) based on different thickness of MTTFEs were fabricated with dye C106. Under the irradiation
Accepted 29 September 2013
of 100 mW cm−2 air mass 1.5 global (AM1.5G) sunlight, the short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc ) and
Available online 19 October 2013
overall conversion efficiency () was improved when the thickness of MTTFEs increased from 2.1 ␮m to
9.8 ␮m, and obvious decreases of the Jsc and  were found when the film thickness was further increased
Keywords:
TiO2 nanocrystals
over 9.8 ␮m. The kinetic parameters of electron transport were investigated by the transient photoelec-
Thin film electrode trical and electrical impedance measurements, and then the influence of MTTFEs thickness on electron
Thickness transport performance in DSCs were further discussed. The results showed that the density of states
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DOS) and recombination rate (Kr ) increased with the MTTFEs thickness increasing. Furthermore, when
Electron transport the thickness of MTTFEs was in the range of 2.1–9.8 ␮m, the electron lifetime ( n ), the electron diffu-
sion coefficient (Dn ), and the electron diffusion length (Ln ) of devices increased, but these parameters
decreased gradually with the further increased thickness of MTTFEs, which influenced the electronic
transport performance of DSCs.
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction coated glass, an electrolyte containing redox couple (usually I− /I3 −

In recent years, developments in solar energy have led differ-
ent countries to take a more affirmative attitude toward the future
prospects of solar energy. However, the traditional silicon solar
cells cannot be widely applied because of their high material cost
and unresolved core technology issues. Currently, third-generation
solar cells have been developed [1]. Dye-sensitized solar cells
(DSCs) based on nanocrystalline TiO2 have attracted a lot of sci-
entific and technological interest since their (Grätzel and O’Regan)
breakthrough in 1991 [2], the innumerable advancements made
on this unique device has now achieved the overall conversion
efficiency () of 12.3% [3].
DSCs have attracted considerable attention due to their reason-
able conversion efficiency, low production cost, simple fabrication
process and environment friendliness compared to silicon solar
cells [4–7]. Typically, a DSC is constructed with a dye-anchored
metal oxide semiconductor supported on an F-doped SnO2 (FTO)
∗ Corresponding authors. Tel.: +86 0391 3986952.
E-mail addresses: hari@hpu.edu.cn (H. Bala), mcsunguang@hpu.edu.cn (G. Sun).
couple), and a platinized counter electrode. The semiconductor film
electrode is the key part of DSC. Nanosized TiO2 materials have
become the preferred semiconductor electrode material because
of their excellent physical and chemical properties [8,9]. When the
device is exposed to sunlight, the excited electrons in the dye are
injected into the conduction band of nanocrystalline TiO2 , then, the
electrons are transport to the bottom of the TiO2 film and collected
by the FTO glass. Meanwhile, the dye in the oxidized state strips one
electron from the electrolyte, the electrolyte then recovers its miss-
ing electrons from the counter electrode by diffusion [10]. During
these processes, electrons in the conduction band of semiconduc-
tor may be recombined with the oxided dye sensitizers or electron
acceptor species in the electrolyte solution. The electron collection
efficiency in DSCs is determined by the competition between trans-
port of electron in the porous semiconductor and recombination of
electrons with I3 − ions in electrolyte. Obviously, the most efficient
DSCs are based on a mesoporous TiO2 film that serves as both a sub-
strate for the dye and the electron conductor [11]. This provides not
only large surface area for the adsorption of dyes for light harvest-
ing, but also a network for electron transport to the FTO glass then
to an external circuit. Thus the different parameters such as particle

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 W. Zhao et al. / Electrochimica Acta 114 (2013) 318–324
size, thickness, the surface area of TiO2 film play important roles on
the performance of DSCs.
Up till now, various strategies have been developed to improve
the conversion efficiency of DSCs, such as changing the TiO2 crys-
tal type, particles size, and treating TiO2 film with TiCl4 solution
[12–14], to improve the contact between the particles within film
and enhance the performance of electron transport; doped TiO2
with transition metal or rare earth element to change its energy
level structure [15,16]; coating with a layer of metal oxide and
rare earth element oxide on the TiO2 film surface to form core-
shell structure of the semiconductor or dielectric barrier layer to
reduce the electron recombination, etc. [17,18]. However, the elec-
tron transport mechanism, the charge recombination mechanism
and influence factors in the nanocrystalline film region are not very
clear. The rapid electron transport in the mesoporous TiO2 film
is important to ensure their efficient collection by the conducting
substrate when in competition with the recombination processes
[19]. Therefore, a series of micro processes that light induces elec-
tron transport in DSCs, such as charge separation, transport, and
recombination, still need to be systemically understood. This will
help to optimize devices then design the DSC with better per-
formance and to pursuit the higher efficiency, resulting in laying
a foundation on the practical application of DSCs eventually. In
this paper, TiO2 nanocrystals were synthesized by sol–gel method
and hydrothermal crystallization technique. Different thickness
MTTFEs-based DSCs were fabricated by using C106 as sensitizer.
Electrical impedance and transient photoelectrical measurements
have been performed to study the kinetic issues of electron trans-
port, and further research the influence of MTTFEs thickness on the
electron transport performance in DSCs.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials
C106 [NaRu(4,4 -bis(5-(hexylthio)thiophen-2-yl)-2,2 -bipyr-
idine)(4-carboxylic acid-4 -carboxylate-2,2 -bipyridine)(NCS)2 ]
dye was obtained from research group of Prof. Wang. Ethyl
cellulose (EC), chloroplatinic acid (H2 PtCl6 ) and 3␣,7␣-dihyroxy-
5␤-cholic acid (Cheno) were purchased from Fluka. Guanidinium
thiocyanate (GNCS), 1,3-dimethylimidazolium iodide (DMII), 4-
tert-butyl pyridine (TBP), LiI and I2 were purchased from Aldrich.
All other chemicals were purchased from Tianjin chemical reagent
factory and used as received.
2.2. Preparation and characterization of TiO2 nanocrystals and
pastes
TiO2 nanocrystals were synthesized by a modified process
[20,21]. In a typical procedure, a white precipitate was obtained via
the hydrolysis of acetic acid-modified butyl titanate in water. The
prepared precipitate was then mixed with concentrated nitric acid
and heated at 80 ◦ C for 75 min. The resultant colloid was transferred
into a Teflon-lined autoclave and heated at 220 ◦ C for 18 h. After
being added 2.4 mL nitric acid, the cooled colloid was dispersed
ultrasonically, centrifuged to remove nitric acid, and finally washed
with de-ionized water and ethanol three times to produce TiO2
nanocrystals. For the preparation of TiO2 pastes, two kinds of ethyl
cellulose 4.5 g of EC (9–11 mPas) and 3.5 g of EC (45–55 mPas) pow-
ers and 64.9 g of terpineol were dissolved prior to usage in ethanol.
The ethanolic mixtures were firstly added to the as-prepared TiO2
nanocrystlas with stirring and sonicating, and then the mixture
solution was concentrated with a rotary-evaporator.
The phase and purity were recorded by X-ray diffraction (XRD)
patterns via a Bruker D8 ADVANCE diffractometer with a Cu
319
K␣ target. The morphology and structure of as-prepared TiO2
nanocrystals were investigated on a JEOM 2100 transmission
electron microscope (TEM). The samples for TEM analysis were pre-
pared by dropping the final TiO2 colloid into ethanol solvent and
then spread it on copper grids coated with an amorphous carbon
film.
2.3. Preparation and characterization of MTTFEs
MTTFEs were prepared by a screen-printing method on TiCl4
per-treated FTO glass. A layer of TiO2 paste was coated on the FTO
glass, kept in a clean box for 5 min and then dried at 130 ◦ C for 6 min.
This screen-printing procedure was repeated to get an appropriate
thickness for the working electrode. Then the films were sintered
in air at 500 ◦ C for 30 min. After TiCl4 post-treatment, the MTTFEs
were stored for fabricating devices. The thickness of TiO2 films were
observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) (EVO18, Germany
ZEISS) and XP-1 high resolution surface profiler (Ambios Technol-
ogy, Inc., USA).
2.4. Fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells
After being heated at 500 ◦ C for 30 min and then cooled to 80 ◦ C,
the electrodes were stained overnight by immersing MTTFEs into
a dye solution containing C106 sensitizer [22] (300 ␮M) and cheno
(300 ␮M) in a mixture of acetonitrile and tert-butanol (1/1, v/v). The
liquid electrolyte was composed of 1.0 M DMII, 50 mM LiI, 30 mM
I2 , 0.5 M TBP and 0.1 M GNCS in the solvent of acetonitrile. The FTO
glass was coated with the Pt catalyst using a drop of H2 PtCl6 in iso-
propyl alcohol solution, followed by heating at 450 ◦ C for 15 min.
The electrodes were separated by a Bynel (DuPont) hot-melt gas-
ket and sealed up by heating. The internal space was filled with
the electrolyte using a vacuum-back-filling system. The electrolyte-
injecting hole on the counter electrode glass substrate, made with
a sandblasting drill, was sealed with a Bynel sheet and a thin glass
cover by heating.
2.5. Photovoltaic measurements
Optical absorbance measurements were carried out on a TU-
1810PCS UV–vis spectrophotometer (Beijing Purkinje General Ins.
Co. Ltd., CHINA). A BOS-X-1000G solar simulator (Changchun
Bosheng, Com. Inc., CHINA) was used to give irradiance of
100 mW cm−2 (the equivalent of one sun at AM1.5G, intensity
adjust by using PMA2100/PMA2144 Pyranometer (Solar Light Co.,
Inc., USA)) at the surface of testing cell. The current-voltage char-
acteristics were investigated by applying external potential bias
to the cell and measuring the dark current and photocurrent with
a Keithley model 2602A digital source meter (Keithley, USA). A
testing device was covered with a metal mask with an aperture
area of 0.16 cm2 . A transient photoelectrical decay technique was
applied to take a closer look at the charge recombination kinet-
ics. In addition, the devices were measured with electrochemical
impedance spectrum in 1 mHz–100 kHz frequency range through
electrochemical workstation (IM6ex, Germany, Zahner).
3. Results and discussion
During the process of preparing MTTFEs for DSC, the TiO2
nanocrystals in fact underwent a two-step heat treatment at 500 ◦ C
for 30 min. Therefore, a similar heat treatment at 500 ◦ C for 1 h has
been preformed on the as-prepared TiO2 . Fig. 1a shows the XRD
pattern of the heat treated TiO2 . For comparison, the XRD pattern
of the original TiO2 sample without any heat treatment is showed in
Fig. 1b. In Fig. 1, all the diffraction peaks can be indexed as anatase
TiO2 phase (JCPDS file No.21-1272), and no characteristic peaks
320 W. Zhao et al. / Electrochimica Acta 114 (2013) 318–324
Fig. 1. XRD patterns of as-prepared TiO2 nanocrystals: (a) before heat treatment,
(b) after heat treatment at 500 ◦ Cfor 1 h.
from other impurities were detected, indicating the formation of
pure TiO2 phase in both samples. Moreover, it was found that the
(1 0 1) peak for the heat treated TiO2 sample was obviously sharper
than that of the original TiO2 sample, demonstrating that the heat
treatment process improved the crystallinity of TiO2 . According to
Scherrer formula, the calculated average crystal sizes are 11.6 nm
and 15.4 nm for original TiO2 and heat treated TiO2 , respectively.
TEM and HRTEM were employed to further investigate the
morphology and structure of the heat treated TiO2 sample. From
the TEM image showed in Fig. 2a, it can be seen that the pre-
pared TiO2 nanocrystals have prismatic shapes, and their size range
is 6.4–17.6 nm, being consistent with the results given by XRD.
The clear and regular lattice fringes in the corresponding HRTEM
image (Fig. 2b) confirmed the highly crystalline nature of the TiO2
nanocrystals. The measured lattice fringe spacing is 0.35 nm, which
is found to correspond to (1 0 1) plane of anatase TiO2 .
The thickness of TiO2 film was investigated by SEM. Fig. 3a–c
shows the SEM images corresponding to the cross-section of meso-
porous TiO2 thin films with different thickness. Obviously, the
increasing of printing layers results in the increase of film thick-
ness. The thickness of the films with 1∼7 layers were measured
to be about 2.1 ␮m, 4.2 ␮m, 6.2 ␮m, 7.9 ␮m, 9.8 ␮m, 11.8 ␮m,
13.7 ␮m, respectively. The thickness of films was further tested by
Fig. 2. TEM (a) and HRTEM (b) images of TiO2 nanocrystals after heat treatment at 500 ◦ C for 1 h.
the high resolution surface profiler. Results of the surface profiler
test (Fig. 3d) were consistent with the observation of the film thick-
ness by SEM. In the following experiments, MTTFEs with one layer,
there layers, five layers and seven layers were selected to fabricate
DSCs, which are named device 1, device 3, device 5, and device 7,
respectively.
In the practical DSC, sensitizer functions, as the only light-
harvesting component, make contribution to charge generation.
The influence of the thickness of MTTFEs on dye adsorption was
investigated by measuring absorption spectra of the dye-sensitized
films to make a preliminary evaluation on their light-harvesting
capacity, in which the not-sensitized films with corresponding
thickness were used as reference. Fig. 4 shows the absorption spec-
tra of dye-sensitized MTTFEs with different thickness. The peaks
appeared near 550 nm correspond to the characteristic absorption
of C106 dye. The C106 sensitizer bestows an improved light absorp-
tion coefficient (molar extinction coefficient at 550 nm for C106 is
18.7 × 103 M−1 cm−1 ) [23] to the dye-sensitized TiO2 film, ensur-
ing better light-harvesting efficiency with the increasing of film
thickness. From Fig. 4, it can be see that with the increasing of
film thickness, the intensity of the characteristic absorption band of
C106 dye increases obviously, and a red-shift was observed when
the thickness of MTTFEs was increased from 2.1 ␮m to 13.7 ␮m,
indicating that the increasing film thickness can improve the light-
harvesting capacity of MTTFEs. It may be possible for the higher
light harvesting efficiencies due to the larger internal surface area
of films and the loading more amount of dye with increasing thick-
ness of MTTFEs, as well as the improved light absorbing and broad
scale of the solar spectrum induced by the enhancing light scatter-
ing. However, the absorption curves show a decreasing rate of rise
as the thickness increases. The absorptivity ratio for C106 sensiti-
zers with the film thickness of 2.1 ␮m, 6.2 ␮m, 9.8 ␮m and 13.7 ␮m
is 1:2.65:3.54:3.96. Due to the increase of stacked layers and inner
defects of films, the amount of dye loading is not strictly propor-
tional to the increasing thickness.
The J–V characteristics for the DCSs fabricated by MTTFEs with
different thickness are presented in Fig. 5 for 100 mW cm−2 (AM
1.5G sunlight) illumination and in the dark, and the detailed pho-
tovoltaic parameters are listed in Table 1. The overall conversion
efficiency () of the DSCs is given by  = (Jsc × Voc × FF)/Pin , where
Jsc , Voc , and FF are short-circuit current density, open-circuit volt-
age, and fill factor, respectively. When the film thickness of MTTFEs
increased from 2.1 to 9.8 ␮m, an obvious increase of Jsc from 10.55
to 17.46 mA cm−2 was happened, resulting in a corresponding
 W. Zhao et al. / Electrochimica Acta 114 (2013) 318–324 321

Fig. 3. SEM image of mesoporous TiO2 thin film electrodes with the 500 ◦ C heat treatment for 1 h: (a) one layer, (b) there layers, (c) five layers, and (d) profiles of MTTFEs
with different thickness.

improvement of  from 5.88% to 8.73%. Compared with device 1,
the Jsc and  of device 5 were increased by 65.5% and 48.5%, respec-
tively. But the Jsc and  decreased to 16.21 mA cm−2 and 7.85%,
respectively, when the MTTFEs thickness was further increased to
13.7 ␮m. Therefore, this could be mainly ascribed that when the
total surface area of TiO2 was increased, more dye molecules could
be adsorbed with the thickness of MTTFEs increasing, resulting
in the light harvesting increasing, the generation of more photo-
electrons, and further increased the Jsc of devices. However, the
Voc decreased gradually with the increasing of TiO2 film thickness,
and the FF was trivial change. The surface states and trap states
of MTTFEs increased with the thickness of film increasing, many
TiO2 surface states can cut down the Fermi level [24], which
made the Voc of devices decrease. With the increasing of MTTFEs
thickness, the Jsc increases, the Voc and fill factor FF reduces, while
the increasing rate of Jsc is greater than the decreasing rate of Voc
and FF. So, when the thickness of MTTFEs is less than five layers,
the increasing thickness of MTTFEs can improve the . On the

Table 1
The photovoltaic performance parameters of the devices.

Printing layers Thickness of Short-circuit current Open-circuit voltage Fill factor (FF) Overall conversion
MTTFEs (d/␮m) density (Jsc /mA cm−2 ) (Voc /mV) efficiency (/%)

1 2.1 10.55 787.5 0.707 5.88

2 4.2 14.37 752.4 0.689 7.45
3 6.2 16.15 736.3 0.685 8.14
4 7.9 16.88 721.2 0.683 8.31
5 9.8 17.46 717.1 0.697 8.73
6 11.8 16.87 693.3 0.692 8.10
7 13.7 16.21 683.1 0.685 7.85
322 W. Zhao et al. / Electrochimica Acta 114 (2013) 318–324

Fig. 4. Absorption spectra of the dye-sensitized MTTFEs with different thickness by

using not-sensitized MTTFEs with the corresponding thickness as reference.

contrary, excessive film thickness of electrodes, such as more than

five layers, MTTFEs thickness with 11.8 ␮m and 13.7 ␮m, makes
decreased the photovoltaic performance.
Generally, the increasing thickness of MTTFEs can enhance the
light harvesting of the photo-anode and improve the photovoltaic
performance of devices, but which does not agree with above
results of J-V test. This indicates that the Jsc and  of devices do
not increase with the continuously increasing of film thickness. The
charge transport and recombination were further investigated by
transient photoelectrical measurements. As presented in Fig. 6a,
the chemical capacitances (C ) of MTTFEs with different thick-
ness increase exponentially along with the increase of Voc , which
was generated by applying a gradually enhanced light intensity. In
each case, a strong shift in the capacitance curve is apparent for
the device 7, its C is maximum at a certain Voc . The C is pro-
portional to the differential density of states (DOS) at Femi level
Fig. 6. Plots of (a) chemical capacitance, (b) density of states versus open-circuit
in the TiO2 particles. Fig. 6b shows the DOS calculated for these voltage of DSCs with different thickness MTTFEs.
films using DOS = 6.24 × 1018 × C /[d(1 − p)] [25], where C is the
chemical capacitance/cm2 , d is the thickness of the TiO2 film in cm,
With the Voc increasing, TiO2 /electrolyte interface recombination
and p is the porosity. The DOS also increased as index form with
rate constant increase as index form. The Kr of device 1 is mini-
the changing of Voc . Under the certain light, C is closely related
mum, Kr grows up with the MTTFEs thickness increasing, and the
with DOS under the conduction band, the chemical capacitance of
Kr of device 7 is maximum. For instance, when the Voc is close to the
devices are so large that the TiO2 surface states and trap states
device work Voc = 680 mV, the Kr of devices increased from 21.6 s−1
are increased. Fig. 7 shows the relationship of recombination rate
to 43.5 s−1 with the thickness of MTTFEs increased from 6.2 ␮m to
constant (Kr ) and Voc of the DSCs with different thickness MTTFEs.
13.7 ␮m, the increased rate is about 2 times. It is thus clear that

Fig. 5. J–V characteristics of DSCs are measured in the dark and under an irradiance Fig. 7. Plots of charge recombination rate constant versus open circuit voltage of
of 100 mW cm−2 AM1.5G sunlight (curves with hollow mark). DSCs with different thickness MTTFEs.
 W. Zhao et al. / Electrochimica Acta 114 (2013) 318–324
Fig. 8. Plots of (a) electronic lifetime, (b) electronic diffusion coefficient and (c) electronic diffusion length versus applied bias voltage of DSCs with different thickness MTTFEs.
the thickness of mesoporous TiO2 films has significant influence on
the recombination rate constant. Furthermore, the charge recom-
bination probability between the electrode surface and electrolyte
grew with the increasing of film thickness, suggesting that the elec-
tron transport efficiency would decrease when the film is too thick
although the light harvesting enhances. The electrons captured by
traps increased because the excited photoelectrons can not effec-
tively transfer to the external circuit and form the photocurrent in
the internal film. Thus, the Jsc and  decreased, this is consistent
with the above analysis of J–V characteristics.
The electrochemical impedance spectra were also measured in
the frequency range of 1 mHz–100 kHz. A Z-view date processing
software was applied to calculate the kinetic parameters of elec-
tronic transport. Fig. 8 shows the relationship between electronic
lifetime ( n ), electronic diffusion coefficient (Dn ) and electronic dif-
fusion length (Ln ) of DSCs fabricated by differently thick MTTFEs
versus applied bias voltage (Vb ). It can be seen that under the same
bias voltage, the values of  n and Dn increase with MTTFEs thickness
increasing from 1 to 5 layers (9.8 ␮m of thickness), but decrease
when the thickness is more than five layers. The  n refers to the time
interval that photogenerated electrons start from injection into
the TiO2 conduction band to transfer into the oxidation-reduction
system [26]. Due to the main composite reaction of the internal
device is the reaction between TiO2 conduction band electronic
and the redox couple of electrolyte and the recombination rate is
related to the electron transition frequency among trap sites. Dn
depends on the photogenerated electrons concentration gradient,
and the probability that electrons are captured by trap states, etc.,
which is the result of comprehensive competition, it reflects the
difficulty level of electronic transmission at concentration gradi-
ent [27]. When the thickness of MTTFEs is increased, more dye
molecules can be adsorbed, resulting in the production of more
photogenerated electrons in the MTTFEs, subsequently, the elec-
trons concentration gradient inside the film is increased. And there
are a lot of trap states and surface states, electrons constantly expe-
rience trap capturing and taking off in transport process, MTTFEs
of deep trap sites will be filled by injection electrons, shallow trap
states release the captured electrons quickly, electrons transition
frequency increases among trap states. So the time that electrons
stay within trap states increases, which delay the recombination
rate between electrons and I3 − , the  n and Dn increase. However,
when the MTTFEs is too thick, trap states largely increase inside
the film, the electronic transport paths lengthen, recombination
rate increases rapidly, and the probability of trap capturing and
taking off electrons is increased, making the electronic diffusion
more difficult, the reflected result is  n and Dn decrease gradually.
323
The Ln reflects the electron transfer path before recombination, the
greater the Ln is, the higher electronic collection efficiency is, and it
is an important factor for DSCs performance. The Ln in DSC has been
estimated by measuring Dn and  n [28]. When the MTTFEs is too
thick, the electronic diffusion is more difficult, a large number of
photogenerated electrons are recombinated without transferring
to the collecting electrode, making the Ln and electronic collection
efficiency decrease, the  also reduces.
4. Conclusions
In summary, TiO2 nanocrystals with an average particle size
of 12 nm were synthesized by combining technologies of sol–gel
method and hydrothermal crystallization. MTTFEs with different
thickness were prepared by screen-printed method. DSCs based on
MTTFEs with different thickness were fabricated with dye C106.
The Jsc and  of devices significantly improved through increasing
the thickness of MTTFEs in the range of 2.1–9.8 ␮m. However, when
the MTTFEs thickness was more than 9.8 ␮m, the values of Jsc and
 both decreased under the irradiation of 100 mW cm−2 air mass
1.5 global (AM1.5G) sunlight. Further investigation on the kinetic
parameters of electron transport performance in DSCs was carried
out using the transient photoelectrical and electrical impedance
measurements. It was found that the DOS and Kr increased with
the increasing of MTTFEs thickness. Furthermore, when the thick-
ness of MTTFEs were from 2.1 ␮m to 9.8 ␮m, the  n , Dn and Ln of
devices increased, but these parameters decreased gradually with
the increasing thickness of MTTFEs, which influenced the elec-
tronic transport performance of DSCs. In general, any factor that
has relationship with the electronic transport process, including the
electronic generation, transmission and recombination, will affect
the performance of DSCs. So, these results should be references
to the design of high performance DSCs and the optimization of
devices.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (60877028, 51172065), China Postdoctoral
Science Foundation funded project (2012M521394), Program for
Innovative Research Team in the University of Henan Province
(2012IRTSTHN007), Foundation of Henan Scientific and Technol-
ogy key project (132102210251, 112102310425, 112102310029),
the Education Department Natural Science Foundation of Henan
Province (13A430315, 2010B420012, 2011B150009). We are grate-
ful to Professor Peng Wang (Changchun Institute of Applied
324 W. Zhao et al. / Electrochimica Acta 114 (2013) 318–324
Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences) supported this work for
Dye C106.
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