The effect of ethyl cellulose on TiO₂ pastes for DSSCs application

Ethyl cellulose (EC)-based TiO₂ pastes were prepared in order to fabricate flat and crack-free TiO₂ films employing screen-printing technique. Pure anatase TiO₂ was synthesised via hydrothermal process using titanium (IV) n-butoxide as Ti-precursor and peptised by acetic acid. The as-prepared TiO₂ sol was employed in making a series of pastes with various weight ratios of ethyl cellulose for screen-printing the TiO₂ electrode for dye sensitised solar cells (DSSCs). The printed TiO₂ electrodes were characterised by surface profile meter, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The printed TiO₂ electrode observed under the micro-scale condition exhibited a porous and crack-free structure. After the DSSCs performance measurement, the amount of dye adsorbed on TiO₂ electrodes was determined by UV-vis. The DSSCs made from paste with 5.82 wt % of EC demonstrated a high energy conversion efficiency of 7.17% with Jsc = 14.86 mA/cm2, VOC = 0.75 V and FF = 0.64 under the AM1.5 with an illumination of 100 mW/cm².