PHOTOVOLTAIC PROPERTIES OF TiO2 PHOTOELECTRODE PREPARED BY USING LIQUID PEG-EEM BINDER

We present one of the central and basic factors related to the TiO2 photoanodes of optimal absorption site. Binder is of particular importance for surfaces and interfaces that involve organic dye and TiO2 layer. We introduced monodispersed liquid copolymer binders; poly(ethylene glycol)-ethyl ether methacrylate (PEG-EEM) instead of solid PEG to increase TiO2 electrode's surface area. We attempt to investigate the morphology of the photoanodes and photovoltaic effects using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), BET and photovoltaic properties under illumination with AM 1.5 simulated sunlight. We achieve 167% enhanced power conversion efficiency when the optimal content of liquid PEG-EEM binder was 4 wt.% than that of PEG binder. We show that the performance of Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) can be strongly improved using liquid type binder.