Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) suffer from efficiency limitations due to interfacial charge recombination at the TiO₂/dye/electrolyte interface. In this study, aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APS) was introduced onto nanoporous TiO₂ photoelectrodes via a dip-coating process with controlled coating times to investigate the effect of silanization time on interfacial charge transport behavior. Unlike concentration-driven structural modification, this work focuses on the evolution of the APS-modified interface governed by reaction time. The DSSC with 30 min APS treatment exhibited the highest power conversion efficiency of 5.34%, representing a 19% enhancement compared to the untreated device (4.49%), mainly due to increased short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage. However, prolonged coating times (2 h and 24 h) resulted in a significant decrease in photocurrent density, leading to reduced device performance despite partial improvement in recombination resistance. These results are attributed to the time-dependent evolution of the APS interfacial layer. At moderate coating time, APS provides effective surface functionalization, enhancing dye adsorption and suppressing interfacial recombination. In contrast, prolonged coating is expected to induce increased surface coverage and silane condensation, which can hinder electron injection and increase charge transport resistance. Therefore, the photovoltaic performance is governed by a trade-off between recombination suppression and charge injection efficiency, controlled by the silanization time. This study highlights the critical role of interfacial reaction kinetics in determining charge transport behavior and provides an effective strategy for optimizing DSSC performance through time-dependent interface engineering.

Dye adsorption is one of the most time-consuming processes in the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), typically requiring approximately 24 h at room temperature. In this study, the effect of adsorption temperature and time on photovoltaic performance of DSSCs was investigated in order to reduce processing time and improve device productivity. Nanoporous TiO₂ photoelectrodes were immersed in N719 dye solution at 60°C for 3 h, 10 h, 17 h, and 24 h, and their performance was compared with that of cells sensitized at room temperature for 24 h. Photovoltaic characterization under AM 1.5 illumination showed that DSSCs sensitized at 60°C exhibited improved performance compared to those sensitized at room temperature. The device sensitized at 60°C for 3 h showed comparable or higher conversion efficiency than the reference cell sensitized for 24 h at room temperature. The improvement in device performance is attributed to enhanced dye adsorption kinetics resulting from increased reaction rate between the carboxyl groups of N719 dye molecules and hydroxyl groups on the TiO₂ surface. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis revealed reduced recombination resistance at the TiO₂/dye/electrolyte interface for cells sensitized at elevated temperature. UV–Vis absorption analysis confirmed increased dye loading on the TiO₂ surface for the 60°C condition. These results demonstrate that elevated temperature dye adsorption significantly reduces processing time while maintaining photovoltaic performance, providing an effective strategy for improving manufacturing efficiency of DSSCs.

Citations

• Enhanced Charge Transport Characteristics of Hydrothermally Grown Rutile TiO2 Nanorod Arrays for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
  Kyu Seop Choi, Hyung Jin Kim, Byungyou Hong
  Surfaces and Interfaces.2026; : 110402.     CrossRef

Organic solar cells based on bulk heterojunction (BHJ) structures have attracted considerable attention because of their low fabrication cost, mechanical flexibility, and compatibility with solution-processing techniques. In BHJ organic photovoltaic devices, nanoscale morphology and crystallinity of the photoactive layer critically influence photovoltaic performance. In this study, the effects of solvent selection and thermal annealing on crystallization evolution and photovoltaic characteristics of P3HT:PCBM organic solar cells were systematically investigated. Three different solvents, including toluene, chlorobenzene (CB), and dichlorobenzene (DCB), were employed for active-layer fabrication, followed by post-thermal annealing treatment. UV–visible absorption spectroscopy revealed solvent-dependent differences in molecular ordering and intermolecular π–π interactions within the active layer. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that thermal annealing significantly enhanced crystallinity and lamellar ordering of P3HT domains, particularly for CB-processed films. Electrical characterization demonstrated that solvent evaporation behavior strongly affects photovoltaic performance. Among the investigated devices, the thermally annealed CB-processed device exhibited the highest power conversion efficiency of 1.83% with an enhanced short-circuit current density of 7.057 mA cm⁻². The improved device performance is attributed to optimized crystallization behavior and balanced nanoscale phase separation induced by the moderate evaporation characteristics of CB. In contrast, although DCB-assisted films exhibited relatively strong optical absorption and enhanced crystallinity, excessively slow solvent evaporation likely induced excessive aggregation and coarse phase separation, limiting efficient photovoltaic characteristics. These results demonstrate that solvent engineering combined with thermal annealing is an effective strategy for controlling morphology evolution and crystallization behavior in P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cells.

Injection molding is used in many industrial fields such as home appliances, vehicle parts, and electronic device parts because various resins can be molded, leading to mass production of complex shapes. Generally, the empirical prediction method is used to set the initial processing conditions of injection molding. However, this approach requires a lot of cost and its presented solution is not accurate. In this paper, injection molding was simulated through the Moldflow^TM in order to manufacture the spacer for gas insulated switch. Through the simulation, the flow of the resin with respect to the diameter of the inlet was analyzed. It was found that the process was possible at a higher resin temperature as the diameter of the inlet increased. In addition, through thermal analysis during injection of the resin, it was confirmed that a stagnation phenomenon occurred at the insert portion during injection molding, and the temperature of the resin was higher than that of the mold. As in this paper, if the spacer is manufactured by optimizing the injection hole and the temperature of the injection process based on simulation, it is expected that the spacer can be manufactured with high productivity.

In this paper, we investigated the surface properties of polymer insulators to improve electrical insulation performance. First, after washing the polymer insulator in various ways, its contact angle was increased, thereby improving the hydrophobic properties and electrical insulation properties. In addition, TiO₂ thin films, which have been used as a photocatalytic material and have been applied to the polymer insulator surface of to enhance the surface and electrical insulating properties. For the sputtering method, the contact angle after coating the TiO₂ thin film increased with increasing RF power, but it was lower compared to that before coating, indicating that the hydrophobic properties of the surface were slightly deteriorated. Consequently, the electrical properties of the polymer-insulating material were maintained or improved after the TiO₂ thin-film coating.