A dye-sensitized solar cell is composed of three main structures: (1) a dye sensitizer whose function is to harvest solar energy and generate excitons [7, 8], (2) a nanostructured metal oxide to transport electrons efficiently [9, 10], and (3) a redox electrolyte or hole-transporting material [11, 12]. The key element in a DSSC is the photoanode, which is composed of a thin film of TiO2 NPs. Though the nanoparticle thin film has a high specific surface area, electron percolation is hindered by limited interconnected NPs resulting in photoelectron loss due to recombination between the photoelectrons and the oxidized

dye molecules or electron-accepting species in the electrolyte. To solve this issue, mechanical compression of the Selleckchem Foretinib photoanode thin film was adopted to increase the PF-6463922 clinical trial effective interconnection between NPs. The optimal

thickness of the mechanically compressed TiO2 nanoparticle thin film was reported. this website Methods Experimental details Deposition of TiO2 thin film as photoanode TiO2 paste (10 wt%) was prepared by mixing nanocrystalline TiO2 nanoparticles (TG-P25, Degussa, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan; the average nanoparticle diameter was about 25 to 30 nm) with tert-butyl alcohol and deionized water. The TiO2 paste was then scraped on a transparent fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass of 8-Ω/sq resistivity by doctor blading method. The films were mechanically compressed with a pressure of 420 kg/cm2. After the compression, the films were annealed in air by two consecutive steps: 150°C for 90 min and 500°C for 30 min. The 150°C annealing is to decompose residual organic compounds, and the 500°C annealing is to assist the interconnection of TiO2 NPs. DSSC fabrication Figure 1 shows the structure of the dye-sensitized solar cell with

TiO2 NP thin film as photoanode. The compressed TiO2 NP thin films were immersed in 0.3 mM N3 dye (cis-bis(dithiocyanato)-bis(4,4′-dicarboxylic acid-2,2′-bipyridine) ruthenium(II)) for 5 h. Subsequently, they were rinsed in acetonitrile for a few seconds to wash out unbound dyes and then dried in the oven at 45°C. The Pt thin film as counter electrode was grown on an indium tin oxide (ITO) glass by an electroplating process. The Aprepitant FTO substrate with deposited compressed TiO2 NP thin film with adsorbed dyes was then bonded to the ITO glass with Pt counter electrode using a 50-μm-thick hot-melt polymer spacer. Sealing was accomplished by pressing the two electrodes together at about 115°C for a few seconds. The redox electrolyte, consisting of 0.5 M LiI, 0.05 M I2, 0.5 M 4-tert-butylpyridine (TBP), and 1 M 1-propy1-2,3-dimethylimidazolium (DMPII) mixed into 3-methoxypropionitrile (MPN), was injected into the cell by capillary forces through an injecting hole, previously made in the counter electrode using a drilling machine. Finally, the hole was covered and sealed with a piece of hot-melt polymer, preventing the leakage of the fluid-type electrolyte.