Publication

Abstract : In this paper, we report a mathematical model developed to study thermal characteristics of heat sink assisted elevated temperature sintering of TiO2 coated polymer photoelectrode used for the fabrication of high-performance flexible dye sensitized solar cells (FDSSCs). Thermal sintering of TiO2 film deposited indium tin oxide coated polyethylene terephthalate (ITO PET) is usually restricted by the polymer serviceability temperature limit (~ 150 °C), but the heat sink assisted sintering process increases sintering temperature without affecting the polymer integrity, produces effectively sintered TiO2 film on the polymer surface and boosts the photovoltaic performance of FDSSCs. The developed model involves simultaneous heat transfer and coolant flow within the system which is dynamically coupled with an external coolant reservoir. Using this model, effects of various parameters such as coolant flow rate, heat sink material, heat sink geometry, and sintering duration on the thermal characteristics of TiO2 sintered on polymer substrate are studied. Also, the FDSSCs fabricated using this sintering method have shown power conversion efficiency increased significantly because of the rise in sintering temperature is controlled by the heat sink thermal parameters. Besides, possibilities of scaling-up of this sintering system for the fabrication of large area FDSSCs are investigated.