The Spray Pyrolysis Of Nano-oxide Sols On The Electrode Of Fiber-shaped Solar Cells

Nano-oxide films with specific structures are widely applied in optoelectronic devices，its preparation method is crucial for structure optimization of the film on electrode of thedevice. Spray pyrolysis method has attracted wide attentions because of its convenience instructure regulation and its availability for various intricate surfaces. Zou et al have developeda new type of fiber-shaped dye sensitized solar cells. Different from traditional plate-typedevices, the curvature of the surface of fiber-shaped electrodes is much higher. It poses twochallenges. First, aerosol flow needs higher uniformity to maintain the stability of electrode’squality. Second, the edge effect becomes a main characteristic of fiber substrate, and dynamicdeposition mechanisms will change drastically because of these effects. It is of greatsignificance for fiber-shaped solar cell to investigate the depositing mechanism of nano-oxidesols on the electrode.This work investigated the flow-field structure of the aerosol when nano-oxide sols onthe anode of fiber-shaped dye sensitized solar cell. The re-atomization of nano-oxide sols wasoptimized via computational fluid dynamics simulation and validated by experimentalobservation to provide aerosol flow with higher uniformity. Furthermore, the electrodesprepared by aerosol deposition were applied in fiber-shaped DSSC fabrication and the effectof structure of aerosol flow field on performance of fiber-shaped DSSC was analyzed.The following are the main conclusions:①When the inlet of carrier gas is set at the middle part of the re-atomizer, theuniformity of aerosol distribution at the outlet of the re-atomizer is evidently improvedbecause of a more efficient mixture. The optimized parameters is the carrier gas velocity=1.5m/s and spray pressure=10bar.②The interaction between the fiber substrates and the aerosol flow would result in twoflow patterns: the flow in two flanks split in the axial direction, and the flow around thecircular cylinder appears along the cylindrical surface. Due to the interference of the split flowalong axial direction, periodical coalescent necklace-like drops would appear. It is moredifficult for necklace-like coalescent drops to grow on thinner fiber, due to bigger surfacetension.③In order to preparing better fiber-shaped photo-anode for Fiber-shaped DSSC, smalldroplets should be increased and the convergence of streamlines should be avoided.Performance of fiber-shaped electrode is accordingly improved after optimization.