TiO2 treatment using ultrasonication for bubble cavitation generation and efficiency assessment of a dye-sensitized solar cell

In this study, the impacts of different ultrasonic treatments on TiO2 particles were determined and they were used to manufacture the photoelectrodes of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Two methods were used to prepare TiO2 particles directly sonicated by an ultrasonic horn, and TiO2 treated indirectly by an ultrasonic cleaner. TEM, XPS analysis was confirmed that cavitation bubbles generated during ultrasonication resulted in defects on the surface of TiO2 particles, and the defect induced surface activation. To understand the effect of TiO2 surface activation on energy conversion efficiency of DSSC, ultrasonic horn DSSC and ultrasonic cleaner DSSC were prepared. The UV–vis analysis exhibited that the ultrasonic horn DSSC possessed higher dye adsorption when compared to the ultrasonic cleaner DSSC, and the EIS analysis confirmed that the electron mobility was greatly increased in the ultrasonic horn DSSC. The energy conversion efficiency of the ultrasonic horn DSSC was measured to be 3.35%, which is about 45% increase in comparison to that of the non-ultrasonic treated DSSC (2.35%). In addition to this regard, recombination resistance of ultrasonic horn DSSC was calculated to be 450 Ω·cm2, increasing more than two times compared to the non-ultrasonic treated DSSC (200 Ω·cm2). Taken together, these ultrasonic treatments significantly improved the energy conversion efficiency of DSSC, which was not tried in DSSC-related research, and might lead us to develop more efficient practical route in the manufacturing of DSSC.