Efficient Large Area Semi‐Transparent Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) Printed with DMD400 Technology

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Abstract
This work presents the development of fully printed, large‐area, semi‐transparent Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) using TiO2 nanoparticles treated with TiCl4, a “D35” push‐pull dye sensitizer, and I3−/I− redox mediator. Cells with areas of 4 and 200 cm2 were printed using hexagonal, stripe, and standard designs, employing digital materials deposition (DMD) technology. The porous films printed via DMD, confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), improved solar cells performance by enhancing the Open Circuit Voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF). The hexagonal design, in particular, facilitated better electrolyte impregnation in the TiO2 mesoporous structure, boosting current density. This design yielded a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.05% for 4 cm2 DSSCs, surpassing the stripe (5.50%) and standard (5.48%) designs. Its higher performance can be attributed to lower interfacial charge recombination rates and improvedcharge transfer and collection efficiency. Photophysical measurements indicated faster charge transfer rates in hexagonal cells (≈ 1.3 × 109s−1) compared to the stripe (9.8 × 108 s−1) and standard (9.5 × 108 s−1) designs. Hence, our work highlights the potential of hexagonal design to improve both efficiency and transparency while reducing material consumption, offering a promising approach for manufacturing semi‐transparent solar cells.
Funding Information
  • London South Bank University

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