Effect of overlayer thickness of hole transport material on photovoltaic performance in solid-sate dye-sensitized solar cell

The photovoltaic performance of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells employing hole transport material (HTM), 2,2',7,7'-tetrakis-(N,N-di-p- methoxyphenyl-amine)-9,9'-spirobifluorene (spiro-MeOTAD), has been investigated in terms of HTM overlayer thickness. Two important parameters, soak time and spin-coating rate, are varied to control the HTM thickness. Decrease in the period of loading the spiro-MeOTAD solution on TiO₂ layer (soak time) leads to decrease in the HTM overlayer thickness, whereas decrease in spin-coating rate increases the HTM overlayer thickness. Photocurrent density and fill factor increase with decreasing the overlayer thickness, whereas open-circuit voltage remains almost unchanged. The improved photocurrent density is mainly ascribed to the enhanced charge transport rate, associated with the improved charge collection efficiency. Among the studied HTM overlayer thicknesses, ca. 230 nm-thick HTM overlayer demonstrates best efficiency of 4.5% at AM 1.5G one sun light intensity.