Deposition of nanocrystalline TiO2 coatings at low temperatures is becoming more attractive due to the possibility for continuous roll production of coatings for assembly lines of dye-sensitized solar cell at a low cost. In this study, porous nano-TiO2 coatings were deposited by vacuum cold spraying at room temperature on a conducting glass substrate using commercial P25 nanocrystalline TiO2 powder. The microstructure of TiO2 coatings was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy and N2 adsorption test. A commercial dye (N719) was adsorbed on the surface of TiO2 particles within the coating to assemble a dye-sensitized solar cell. The cell performance was evaluated employing simulated solar light at an intensity of 100 mW/cm2. The results showed that TiO2 coatings were deposited by the agglomerates of nano-TiO2 powders. The BET test of the as-sprayed TiO2 coatings yielded a porosity of 49% and an average pore size of 17 nm. The assembled solar cell yielded a short-circuit current density of 7.3 mA/cm2 and an energy conversion efficiency of 2.4%. The test result indicates that vacuum cold spraying was a promising method to deposit nanocrystalline TiO2 coating at low temperature applied to the dye-sensitized solar cell.

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