Mechanism of Enhanced Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Based TiO₂ Films Treated by Titanium Tetrachloride

Performance of dye-sensitized solar cells can be improved by treating the nanoporous TiO₂ films with titanium tetrachloride (TiCl₄) aqueous solution. We explore the reason why the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells is enhanced by this method. It is found that the effect of TiCl₄ treatment not only reduces the films surface area and improves the electronic contact, but also enhances the binding of N719 with the TiO₂ films surface.