Semiconductor TiO2 Coating Deposited by Microwave Plasma Method

Transparent conducting glass is a crucial layer of Dye Synthesized Solar Cell (DSSC), due to it allows sunlight penetrating to the solar cell. DSSC has a low efficiency until semiconductor Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) was employed as the anode material. TiO2 has high photosensitivity, high structure, stability under solar irradiation and in solution, and low cost. In this study, TiO2 was deposited on the conductive glass using microwave plasma method. Plasma was generated using electromagnetic waves from microwave magnetron. TiO2 powder was dissolved using pure water and ethanol at different concentrations. The coating process was conducted on a 2.5 x 2.5 cm of conductive glass, and the effect of plasma generation time was observed at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 5 minutes. The thickness, roughness, and microstructure of TiO2 coating on the conductive glass were observed using a 3D measuring laser OLS4100. The result shows that the fabrication of TiO2 coatings using microwave plasma is feasible. The concentration of solution and plasma generation time plays an important role in the thickness, roughness, and microstructure of TiO2 coatings. An optimum result was obtained at a plasma generation time of 0.5 minutes with 12.49 μm and 3.398 μm of thickness and roughness respectively using 10 g TiO2 + 50 ml ethanol and 40 ml H2O.