Performance optimization of solid state dye sensitised solar cells (ssDSSCs) using two different electron transport layers (ETLs), using SCAPS-1D simulation software

Abstract In this work, a comparative analysis was carried out by using titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) and tungsten disulfide (WS 2 ) as an electron transport layer (ETL). This numerical analysis was conducted using SCAPS-1D software, which stands for solar cell capacitance simulator-1 Dimensional. The two device structures were: FTO/TiO 2 /N719/ MoO 3 and FTO/WS 2 /N719/MoO 3 . For TiO 2 ETL-based devices, the PCE was 11.42%, with J sc , V oc , and FF values of 18.50 mA cm −2 , 0.872 V, and 70.75%, respectively. By contrast, WS 2 -based devices achieved a PCE of 14.23% with J sc , V oc , and FF values of 20.86 mA cm −2 , 0.880 V, and 77.43%, respectively. Based on the above-mentioned data, WS 2 has better PV performance of the solar cell. WS 2 exhibits high electron mobility, chemically stable, tunable bandgap, therefore a promising candidate to replace TiO 2 as an ETL in future designs.