Effect of screen printing type on transparent TiO₂ layer as the working electrode of dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) for solar windows applications

The working electrode based on semiconductor TiO₂ DSSC has been fabricated by screen printing method. This study aim is to determine the effect of the screen type on TiO₂ layer as the working electrode of DSSC. Screen used for deposition of TiO₂ has the types of; T- 49, T-55 and T-61. TiO₂ layer was sintered at temperature of 500°C. DSSC structure was composed of semiconductor TiO₂ adsorbed dye, an electrolyte solution and a platinum counter electrode. TiO₂ layer thickness was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), while the absorbance was characterized using UV-Vis spectrophotometer and the electrical properties of DSSC were characterized by Keithley I-V measurement. TiO₂ layer fabricated by screen T-49 had the biggest thickness that was 3.2 0.3 μm and the highest UV-Vis absorbance wave at the peak wavelength of 315 nm with the absorbance value was 1.7. The I-V characterization showed that the sample fabricated by screen T-49 obtained the greatest efficiency that was 1.0 × 10^-1%.