Dye-sensitized solar cell and method for manufacturing same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9620295-B2
Application number	US-201314398646-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2013
Priority date	May 8, 2012
Publication date	Apr 11, 2017
Grant date	Apr 11, 2017

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dye-sensitized solar cell and a fabrication method thereof. The dye-sensitized solar cell according to the present invention comprises: a transparent substrate; a porous semiconductor layer provided on the transparent substrate and comprising a dye sensitizer; a current collecting electrode provided on the porous semiconductor layer and deposited such that a structure having at least one through-hole on the porous semiconductor layer is formed; a catalyst electrode; and an electrolyte material provided between the transparent substrate and the catalyst electrode.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A dye-sensitized solar cell comprising:
a transparent substrate;
a porous semiconductor layer provided directly on the transparent substrate and comprising a dye sensitizer;
a current collecting electrode provided directly on the porous semiconductor layer and having a structure including at least one through-hole;
a catalyst electrode;
an electrolyte material provided between the transparent substrate and the catalyst electrode; and
a pre-treatment layer formed directly on the transparent substrate and between the transparent substrate and the porous semiconductor layer or a post-treatment layer formed directly on a surface of the porous semiconductor layer,
wherein the pre-treatment layer or post-treatment layer comprise titanium oxide, zinc oxide, tin oxide, niobium oxide, zirconium oxide, cerium oxide, tungsten oxide, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, nickel oxide, tantalum oxide, barium titanate, strontium titanate, calcium titanate, zinc sulfide, lead sulfide, bismuth sulfide, cadmium sulfide, CuAlO 2 , SrCu 2 O 2 , or a combination thereof,
wherein the each thickness of the pre-treatment layer or the post-treatment layer is 0.2 nm to 25 nm.

2. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the current collecting electrode has a thickness from 5 nm to 1,000 nm, and a surface of the current collecting electrode has the same topographical morphology as that of a surface of the porous semiconductor layer.

3. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 1 , further comprising:
a sealing spacer provided between the transparent substrate or the current collecting electrode and the catalyst electrode.

4. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one internal spacer provided between the current collecting electrode and the catalyst electrode.

5. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the current collecting electrode comprises titanium, nickel, platinum, gold, silver, copper, aluminum, tungsten, rhodium, indium, tin oxide, fluorine-doped tin oxide (PTO), indium oxide, tin-doped indium oxide (ITO), zinc oxide, carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon black, PEDOT-PSS, polypyrrole, polyaniline, poly-EDT, or a combination thereof.

6. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the porous semiconductor layer comprises titanium oxide, zinc oxide, tin oxide, niobium oxide, zirconium oxide, cerium oxide, tungsten oxide, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, nickel oxide, tantalum oxide, barium titanate, strontium titanate, calcium titanate, zinc sulfide, lead sulfide, bismuth sulfide, cadmium sulfide, CuAlO 2 , SrCu 2 O 2 , or a combination thereof.

7. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the porous semiconductor layer is formed of particles having an average diameter from 1 nm to 400 nm.

8. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 1 , further comprising:
a transparent current collecting electrode provided between the transparent substrate and the porous semiconductor layer.

9. A dye-sensitized solar cell comprising:
a transparent substrate;
a first porous semiconductor layer provided directly on the transparent substrate and comprising a first dye sensitizer;
a current collecting electrode provided directly on the first porous semiconductor layer;
a second porous semiconductor layer provided on the current collecting electrode and comprising a second dye sensitizer;
a catalyst electrode;
an electrolyte material provided between the transparent substrate and the catalyst electrode; and
a pre-treatment layer formed directly on the transparent substrate and between the transparent substrate and the first porous semiconductor layer or a post-treatment layer formed directly on a surface of the first or second porous semiconductor layer,
wherein the each thickness of the pre-treatment layer or the post-treatment layer is 0.2 nm to 25 nm.

10. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 9 , wherein the first dye sensitizer and the second dye sensitizer are the same dye sensitizer.

11. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 9 , wherein the first dye sensitizer and the second dye sensitizer absorb a wavelength range different from each other.

12. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 9 , further comprising:
a second current collecting electrode provided on the second porous semiconductor layer.

13. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 12 , further comprising:
a third porous semiconductor layer provided on the second current collecting electrode and comprising a third dye sensitizer.

14. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 13 , wherein the first dye sensitizer, the second dye sensitizer, and the third dye sensitizer are the same dye sensitizer.

15. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 13 , wherein at least two dye sensitizers of the first dye sensitizer, the second dye sensitizer, and the third dye sensitizer absorb a wavelength range different from each other.

16. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 13 , further comprising:
a third current collecting electrode provided on the third porous semiconductor layer.

17. The dye-sensitized solar cell of claim 9 , further comprising:
a current collecting electrode provided between the transparent substrate and the first porous semiconductor layer.

18. A method for fabricating a dye-sensitized solar cell, the method comprising:
preparing a transparent substrate;
forming a porous semiconductor layer directly on the transparent substrate;
depositing a current collecting electrode directly on the porous semiconductor layer such that a structure having at least one through-hole on the porous semiconductor layer is formed;
introducing a dye sensitizer into the porous semiconductor layer;
forming a catalyst electrode;
introducing an electrolyte material between the transparent substrate and the catalyst electrode and
introducing a pre-treatment layer formed directly on the transparent substrate and between the transparent substrate and the porous semiconductor layer or introducing a post-treatment layer formed directly on a surface of the porous semiconductor layer,
wherein the each thickness of the pre-treatment layer or the post-treatment layer is 0.2 nm to 25 nm.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the current collecting electrode has a thickness from 5 nm to 1,000 nm, and a surface of the current collecting electrode has the same topographical morphology as that of a surface of the porous semiconductor layer.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
forming at least one internal spacer between the current collecting electrode and the catalyst electrode.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the current collecting electrode comprises titanium, nickel, platinum, gold, silver, copper, aluminum, tungsten, rhodium, indium, tin oxide, fluorine-doped tin oxide (PTO), indium oxide, tin-doped indium oxide (ITO), zinc oxide, carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon black, PEDOT-PSS, polypyrrole, polyaniline, poly-EDT, or a combination thereof.

22. The method of claim 18 , wherein the porous semiconductor layer comprises titanium oxide, zinc oxide, tin oxide, niobium oxide, zirconium oxide, cerium oxide, tungsten oxide, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, nickel oxide, tantalum oxide, barium titanate, strontium titanate, calcium titanate, zinc sulfide, lead sulfide, bismuth sulfide, cadmium sulfide, CuAlO 2 , SrCu 2 O 2 , or a combination thereof.

23. The method of claim 18 , wherein the porous semiconductor layer is formed of

Assignees

• Lg Chemical Ltd
• Jung Soo Hee
• Dentons Us Llp

Inventors

• Kang Tae-Sik

Classifications

• H01G9/2022 Primary

  characterized by he counter electrode · CPC title

• Y02E10/542

  Dye sensitized solar cells · CPC title

• H01G9/2059

  comprising an organic dye as the active light absorbing material, e.g. adsorbed on an electrode or dissolved in solution · CPC title

• H01G9/2072

  comprising two or more photoelectrodes sensible to different parts of the solar spectrum, e.g. tandem cells · CPC title

• H01G9/2036

  comprising mixed oxides, e.g. ZnO covered TiO2 particles · CPC title