Properties of a dye-sensitized solar cell with phosphor added in the electrolyte

We added 0.0∼0.5 wt% YBO₃:Eu³⁺ nano powders to an electrolyte to improve the energy conversion efficiency (ECE) of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). TEM and XRD were used to characterize the microstructure and phases. Photoluminescence(PL) was used to determine fluorescence and the composition of the YBO₃:Eu³⁺ Phosphor. UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy was used to determine the optical absorbance of the DSSC with the YBO₃:Eu³⁺ phosphor. A solar simulator and a potentiostat were used to confirm the photovoltaic properties of the DSSC with YBO₃:Eu³⁺. From the result of microstructure analysis, we found that the YBO₃:Eu³⁺ phosphor had a particle size of less than 100 nm. The absorbance in a visible light regime increased as the amount of YBO₃:Eu³⁺ increased. The photovoltaic property results revealed that the maximum ECE was 5.11% with 0.5 wt% YBO₃:Eu³⁺ compared to that of 3.88% without YBO₃:Eu³⁺. Our results suggest that we might be able to enhance the ECE of a DSSC by employing a phosphor-added electrolyte.