Enhanced power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells with samarium doped TiO2 photoanodes

In this study, TiO 2 photoanodes doped with samarium ions via a method of hydrothermal treatment were used to fabricate dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Different doping concentrations were investigated on the effects of the cell’s performance. Some techniques including XRD, scanning electron microscopy, HRTEM, XPS, UV-Vis, photoluminescence were used to characterize the morphology, structure, and optic properties of the prepared photoanodes. The photovoltaic performance of the fabricated cells was further evaluated by measuring the current density–voltage ( J – V ) curves. It was found that: (1) The down-conversion luminescence effect derived from samarium doping could enhance the light-harvesting ability. (2) Compared with the undoped sample, the samarium-doped cells exhibited enhanced photovoltaic performance. Among the cells with different doping concentrations, the cell TiO 2 :0.015 Sm showed the best power conversion efficiency of 6.08% with a high open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) and a short-circuit current density ( J sc ).