Effect of the Performance of Lignin Into the Matrix of the TiO₂ with Application on DSSCs

Abstract

Founding new materials and structures for solar cells is a challenge in the photovoltaic field. This work evaluated the effect of the lignin in the photovoltaic activity by compounding with TiO₂/lignin as photoanode for the dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC’s). Hybrid films (TiO₂/lignin) with different concentrations of lignin (5, 10 and 15%) were deposited by spin coating over commercial TiO₂ thin films. The cells were sandwich assembled. The characterizations were done through analysis of absorbance, band gap, x-ray diffraction, morphological and electrical. The lignin at 15% reduced the TiO₂ band gap from 3.66 to 2.84 eV, favoring the short current density to 11.06 mA/cm² and efficiency of 4.65%, an increase of 103.95% compared to the TiO₂ structure without lignin.

Keywords:
Lignin; TiO₂; DSSCs; Spin coating