Abstract
Metals foils have been increasingly used as alternative substrates for the flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to overcome the limitations arising from the low sintering-temperature tolerance of the plastic substrates. However, the potential problem of metal corrosion in the iodide-based electrolytes threatens to degrade the performance and long-term stability of the metal-based DSSCs. To resolve this dilemma, we have employed unbalanced magnetron sputtering systems to prepare nanocrystalline TiN barriers on the metal substrates as a photo-electrode. The energy conversion efficiency of TiN deposited DSSC reaches about 6.2% under illumination with a light intensity of 100mW-2. The improved durability of DSSC has also been observed as compared to uncoated metal based DSSC. The mechanism of enhanced efficiency and durability of TiN coated DSSC will be discussed in this talk.