Examination of the sintering process-dependent properties of TiO₂ on glass and textile substrates

In recent years, the development of smart textiles has attracted great attention. Such textiles can contain small electrical devices, which need a power supply. Dye-sensitized solar cells, which can be produced from nontoxic, cheap, low-purity materials, could fill this purpose. However, to reach reasonable cell properties, sintering the TiO₂ layer on the substrate is necessary. Unfortunately, only a few textile materials can withstand a sintering process at high temperatures. Therefore, it is important to find an optimal temperature leading to a reasonable improvement of the cell characteristics without damaging the textile substrate. The influence of the sintering temperature on different properties is investigated. For this, the surface properties of the TiO₂ coating, such as adhesion to the substrate, dye adsorption characteristic, and film stability, are investigated on different substrates, i.e., a glass plate, a stainless steel nonwoven fabric, and a carbon woven fabric. Two commercially available TiO₂ sources are used: A TiO₂ dispersion obtained from Man Solar and a water-based solution of TiO₂ particles purchased from Kronos. The influence of the sintering temperature on short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage of solar cells on the aforementioned substrates is also examined.