Performance of Tin Oxide thin films deposited using the doctor blade technique in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC)

Performance of Tin Oxide thin films deposited using the doctor blade technique in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Performance of Tin Oxide thin films deposited using the doctor blade technique in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) Ramanathan Govindarajan, Murali Ramakrishna, Syed Suraj Babu Kamaludeen, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8261569/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Tin oxide materials' photoelectric efficiency is crucial to the operation of dye-sensitized solar cells. Tin oxide powder was made using sol gel dip coating procedures. The gels created by this synthesis process are heated using a range of methods to create tin oxide nanopowder. The prepared tin oxide nano powder charactersitized by various studies such as structural, electrical, and optical properties were investigated and these results are reported in this paper. After the characterisation this material we focused on Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells application. In this study, a simple doctor blade technique is used to deposit SnO2 powder, which is created by the sol gel acrylamide method, onto FTO substrates (5 ohms/sq). This technique can create films with different grain sizes. According to the experimental results, the doctor blade technique outperformed conventional deposition processes in producing SnO2 sheets for use as a photoelectrode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). With an average grain size of 120 nm, the best device discovered in this work had an 8.0 mA cm-2 at 100 mW/cm2 of simulated incident light, a conversion efficiency of 3.84%, and a short circuit current density exclusive of 0.75 V. This result is consistent with earlier studies on undoped tin oxide-based DSSCs. SnO2 dip coating method doctor blade techniques Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Introduction One important material that exhibits intriguing superconductor-insulator transition behavior at low temperature and low dimension is transparent conducting oxide (TCO). Tin oxide (SnO2) coating on glass is an essential part of optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells, electrochromic systems, etc., due to its broad band gap and special optical and electrical characteristics. [1-3] Dopant concentration and oxygen stoichiometry have a significant impact on these characteristics. The conditions under which a film is prepared dictate its optical and electrical properties. Tin oxide powder can be made in a number of ways, but the sol gel method is the most effective since it is simple to use basic equipment to deposit homogeneous large-area films with the proper shape and control over dopant concentration, among other things. Hydrolysis and condensation processes take place because the procedure uses low temperatures and organic alcoholic solutions of metallic compounds. metal organic precursors or inorganic precursors. Alkoxided metal (M(OR)z), where R is an alkyl group (CxH2x+1). The alkoxide is dissolved with alcohol and hydrolyzed by adding water (either basic, neutral, or acidic conditions are used). In this process, a hydroxyl liquid is used in place of an alkoxide ligand through hydrolysis; during the condensation reaction, hydroxyl ligands create polymers made of M-O-M links. The majority of the byproducts are either alcohol or water. Further reactions result in the formation of silicon oxides. The final powder's characteristics, such as its porosity, hardness, and refractive index, are influenced by the chemical precursors [4–7]. Tin oxide nanopowder was created by sol gel dip coating [8]. One of the most crucial elements of DSSC for high power solar efficiency is ruthenium dye. Basically, high conductivity is produced by using either indium or fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) as the TCO materials. This improves the efficiency of charge carrier transmission within the DSSC, is mostly utilized for electrical contacts and chip resistors in the electronics industry. Incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) is used to evaluate DSSC performance. The ratio of incident photons to produced charged carriers generating photocurrent is known as the IPCE. This study reports the IPCE value for tin oxide powder films. In the chemical industry, ruthenium oxide is used to coat the anodes of electrochemical cells that produce chlorine. Moreover, catalysts for the synthesis of acetic acid and ammonia contain ruthenium. Dye sensitized solar cell:- Principle The search for a feasible and reasonably priced alternative to the glass substrate used in the production of conventional solar cell devices is being driven by the demand for fossil fuels. As a low-cost dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) photoanode, nanocrystalline tin oxide films have attracted a lot of interest. Molecular dyes are used to increase the sensitivity of mesoporous, nanocrystalline metal oxide coatings to solar radiation. Light stimulates the dye molecules, which shift from the ligand-based Lower Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO) to the metal-based High Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO). The dye's ligand is attached to the semiconductor, allowing the excited electrons to be further injected into the conduction band. Within a very short time the excited electron is given off to the CB semiconductor. Therefore these electrons can flow through the external load. By recovering one electron from the organic electrolyte solution, the oxidized dye molecule is reduced to its original state. A DSSC is a semiconductor device that converts solar radiation into electrical energy. It is composed of the several components listed below: 1.Indium doped tin oxide (ITO), fluorine, or doped tin oxide (FTO) are common constituents of one kind of transparent conducting oxide (TCO). Other inexpensive materials that have been used as TCO include graphene, tin oxide, aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO), and doped TiO2. 2. TiO2 nanoparticles are typically used to create the mesoporous metal oxide layer, which serves as a photoanode. 3. Dye molecules, or sensitizers, that are fixed to the photoanode. 4. Electrolyte that experiences a redox reaction, primarily iodide-tri iodide electrolyte. 5. A counter electrode, generally a glass coated with platinum. In DSSCs, incoming photons are absorbed and stimulated by the dye molecules that are deposited on the surface of the mesoporous TiO2 layer. These excited dye molecules transfer an electron to the conduction band of the mesoporous photoanode network, whereas the dye molecules that lose an electron undergo oxidation. To get to the counter electrode (CE), these injected electrons must travel through the TiO2 layer and the external load. These electrons are used to replenish the lost electron in the oxidized dye by obtaining an electron from the I ion after being transferred to the electrolyte. Tri iodide ions (I3) are created concurrently by the oxidation of the iodide molecules. Finally, I ion regeneration at the CE (cathode) and electron migration across the external load complete the circuit..[9] Experimental The procedure for obtaining tin oxide powder using sol gel method is published [ 10 ]. After the gel was formed, it was dried at 350 0 C in static air and then calcined at 700 0 C in flowing air. After thoroughly mixing the powder with the required amount of diammonium hydrogen phosphate, it was suspended in water and heated to 90 0 C while being constantly stirred. We are left with pure tin oxide powder following the drying process. The powder was evaluated in a number of research, including X-ray diffraction – Philips x-ray unit CuKα Optical transmission – U 3400 Hitachi spectrometer Surface morphology - SEM-JEOL 7000F The Fabrication of DSSC:- The popular term "doctors blade coating" refers to the low-cost method of depositing perovskite thin coatings on a variety of surfaces, from small too big. For the process to be effective, the substrate and blade must move in relation to one another continuously, either by moving the substrate over or underneath the blade. This method involves applying a well-mixed coating solution to the substrate in front of the blade. The resulting slurry effectively spreads over the substrate surface when the blade and carrier surfaces move in relation to one another.After that, it evaporates to produce a film of different thicknesses. The form, thickness, and crystallization of the film are significantly influenced by the solvent used in this procedure, and these factors can all determine how effective thin film’s morphology. The ideal angle for doctor blade procedures is between 28° and 29°. A greater portion of the blade's edge will come into contact with the roll if the blade angle falls below 28°. Common doctor blade thicknesses range from 0.150 to 0.500 nm. More uniform ink film is possible with thinner blades because of their immediately noticeable to minor flaws on the anlox surface. The carbon paste-coated counter electrode and dip-coated and doctor blade-sensitized tin oxide films with an active cell area of 0.25 cm2 are used as working electrodes on an FTO substrate. The resulting SnO 2 nanopowders obtained after calcination at different temperatures for 4 hours were dispersed in 5 ml of pure ethanol and stirred for 1 h. This was followed by addition of 0.1 g of ethylene glycol and stirred further for another 1 h. Addition of 5 ml of alpha-terpineol and 3 drops of Triton X-100 to the above solution. This was heated at 80°C with stirring for 3 h until a paste consistency was obtained for the deposition of films. Using the doctor blade technique, the aforementioned pastes were applied to FTO glass (5 ohm/sq). To serve as the photoanode electrode, this film was heated to 475°C for 30 minutes. After cooling to room temperature, the photoanode was placed in a 0.05 molar N719 dye solution to absorb dye molecules. To evaluate the photoanodes, they remained in the dye solution for 12 hours. Following the dye loading process, the photoanode was washed with ethanol to remove any unwanted dye molecules. A Serlin spacer and a glass counter electrode coated in platinum were used in the construction of the DSSC. The iodide/tri-iodide electrolyte was vacuum-injected into the DSSC structure through the hole on the platinum electrode.. DSSC structures were obtained on conducting glass substrate and counter electrode was obtained with a conducting coating on the inner side of the substrate.[ 11 – 12 ] Result and discussion Figure 1 shows the XRD pattern of tin oxide powder sheets heated for two hours at 500 0 C. The single phase rutile structure of tin oxide materials is visible in all of the peaks. The grain size increases from 10 nm to 18 nm as the formation temperature rises. [ 13 ] This observation indicates that the tin oxide powder sample has better grain sizes. Fig-2 shows tin oxide powder at various temperature (a) 400 0 C (b) 500 0 C (c) 600 0 C Table-1 shows Microstructural properties of tin oxide powder samples coated films calcined at different temperatures Tin oxide powder sample Temperature ( 0 C ) Grain size (nm) Micro strain (ϵ) x 10 − 3 Dislocation density x 10 15 lines/m 400 10 4.46 0.55 500 15 4.44 0.32 600 18 0.14 0.14 Surface Morphology:- Surface morphology can be used to image any surface, including glass, ceramics, composites, biological materials, and polymers. With a resolution of about 2 nm, the scanning electron microscope (SEM) can be used to analyze the topography of materials. As an electron probe scans the material, these electrons are interacting with it. The specimen's surface releases secondary electrons, which are then captured and recorded. SEMs are used in materials science for quality control, research, and failure analysis. SEMs are widely employed in mesoporous structures, high temperature superconductors, alloy strength, and the study of nanotubes and nanofibres in modern materials science research. SEM pictures revealed tin oxide nanoparticles with sizes between 6 and 15 nm, indicating a regular and periodic arrangement of lattice planes in the samples, as seen in Fig. 3 . UV-visible spectrophotometer: The quantitative technique of spectrophotometry, also referred to as UV-Vis Spectroscopy, measures the amount of light that a chemical substance absorbs. Figure 4 shows the interference fringes (transmittance greater than 80 percent) in the transmission spectra of the films made at various temperatures. An estimate of the absorption coefficient was made. Figure 5 shows the band gap value in the 3.68–3.88 eV region as a plot of (αhϒ)2 vs. hϒ. The optical absorption data were obtained from the UV visible diffuse reflectance spectra of tin oxide samples. Warmth reduces the bandgap energy because it increases the crystallite and shifts the optical absorption to a longer wavelength (red shift). A taue plot is used to determine the optical band gap (r = 2 for indirect permitted transitions) of either disordered or amorphous semiconductors. Using the connection (equation-1), the band gap energies were calculated and found to be 3.92 eV and 4.15 eV.[ 14 ], in good agreement with the stated value.[ 15 – 16 ] Dye Sensitized Solar cell and its parameters: DSSCs are devices that convert solar energy into electrical energy by utilizing light sensitization integrated into wide -energy band semiconductors. The parameters of dye-sensitized solar cells include conversion efficiency (η), power maximum (Pm), fill factor (ff), open circuit voltage (Voc), and short circuit current (Jsc). Eq. (1) can be used to calculate Voc. V oc = nKT/q ( ln I sc / I o +1) ---------------------------(1) Power Maximum: In order to find the power maximum, the product of I and V throughout the whole current and voltage output curve is calculated. At this stage, the voltage and current are referred to as Imax and Vmax. P max = I max V max ------------------------------------(2) Fill factor: Fill factor is defined as the ratio of the cell's maximal power output to the product of the open circuit voltage and short circuit current. This indicates how far the output has deviated from the ideal. FF = V m I m /V oc I sc -------------------------------(3) Efficiency: The ratio of electrical energy production to light energy input provides this information.Pin A = η = V m I m FF = Efficiency ---------(4), where A is the electrode's illuminated region and Pin represents the optical power incident on the electrode. The cells were illuminated using a 250 W Xenon lamp with an infrared-blocking filter (100 m W cm-2). The power conversion efficiency is the ratio of the incident power to the output power. The standard relation was used to assess the DSSCs' efficiency (η). [ 17 ]. η = (J SC V OC FF)/P in …………………………………… (5) IPCE (%) = 1240 × JSC / (λ × Pin) × 100% ---------------- (6) This standard relation has the parameters with familiar meaning The photocurrent–photovoltage characteristic curve of DSSCs using the SnO 2 films by doctor blade technique (Fig. 6 ) is used to estimate the performance parameters of the DSSCs (summarized in Table- 2). λ (incident light wavelength). Figure 6 shows the IPCE wavelength distribution for the photoelectrode that was heated to 500°C. The peak of the photocurrent occurs at about 410 nm. The visible t2 →π* metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) is represented by the IPCE value at approximately 526 nm (dye absorption). The IPCE value displayed by the DSSC is comparatively high. The DSSC created using the doctor blade procedure yielded efficiency values that were higher than the efficiency. [ 18 ]. Figure 7 , shows the characteristics curves of the DSSCs fabricated from the photoanodes prepared with the different SnO 2 powders. AM1.0 illumination simulated emission from a tungsten halogen lamp was used. 5 cells from each sample was investigated the repeatability of the cells. The photovoltaic parameters of these cells are summarized in Table 2. The cells prepared using powders calcined at 600°C exhibited maximum efficiency [ 19 – 20 ]. The increased short circuit current brought on by appropriate dye absorption and favorable electrical characteristics is the cause of this superiority. Naturally, this cell's open circuit voltage is lower than that of the DSSC with 1:0 ratios, but this issue is offset by the cell's larger current, and with an efficiency of 3.84 percent, this cell has demonstrated the highest efficiency among the others. This superiority can be explained by the fact that these films have higher dye loading, which raises the short circuit current. Table-2 Tin oxide electrodes' photovoltaic performance at different temperatures Temperature ( 0 C) V oc (V) J sc (mA/m 2 ) Fill factor Efficiency (%) 400 0.53 3.0 0.65 1.03 500 0.60 3.8 0.58 1.32 550 0.63 6.2 0.81 3.20 600 0.64 8.0 0.75 3.84 Conclusion For 12 hours at room temperature, cis-di (thiocyanate) bis (2-2'-bipyridyl-4-4'-di-carboxylate) ruthenium (II) (R535,N3-dye, Solaronix) was used to create SnO2 thin films using the doctor blade method. In the dye-sensitized solar cell, the dip-coated electrodes deposited using the doctor blade technique demonstrated a relatively good efficiency, indicating that it is appropriate for use in dye-sensitized solar cells. At 100 mW/cm2 of simulated incident light, the optimal device found in this work had an average grain size of 18 nm, a conversion efficiency of 3.84 percent, and 0.63V and 8.0 mA cm-2. Compared to previous reports on tin oxide-based DSSC, this result is higher. Declarations Ethics Consent to participate : Not applicable Consent for publication : Did not involve identifiable human data (Not Applicable) Competing Interest : No conflict: Author contribution: Conceptualization, GR, KRM; Methodology, GR; KRM KS Formal analysis, KRM, GR ,SS Investigation, GR, KRM,SS Resources, KRM, GR,KS Writing original draft preparation, GR,KRM Review and editing, KRM, GR Supervision, KRM. Data Availability: The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Funding: There is No funding received from any agency Conflict of Interests: Regarding the publishing of this work, the authors state that they have no conflicts of interest. 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Sherman, Tin(IV) oxide nanoparticulate films for aqueous dye-sensitized solar cells Solar Energy 224 (2021) 984–991 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2021.06.067 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8261569","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":563725403,"identity":"a4d0606f-4197-400a-9fcf-19373eda971d","order_by":0,"name":"Ramanathan 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1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":49785,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eshows XRD pattern of tin oxide Powder calcined at 500 C for 2 hours\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8261569/v1/c7d517a9ca4122f1073ab9e1.png"},{"id":98796509,"identity":"563145a1-219a-4ce0-9f20-79f5801d9dd5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-22 12:56:17","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":71567,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eshows tin oxide powder at various temperature (a) 400 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC (b) 500 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; (c) 600 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8261569/v1/272c67029148854069a429e6.png"},{"id":98796524,"identity":"5538d374-2faa-4082-82ee-bbee16ca4655","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-22 12:56:19","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":275001,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eshows surface morphology behaviour of tin oxide powder (SEM)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8261569/v1/7c1411ea795de97cd439420e.png"},{"id":98796664,"identity":"e0722a02-d4b6-4437-a831-9ebae51c2504","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-22 12:56:32","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":203031,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e(a) shows UV-Visible spectrophotometer for Tin oxide powder at various temperatures (a) 400°C (b) 500°C (c) 550°C (d) 600°C\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8261569/v1/a50524da0b115f7f3cd23b3c.png"},{"id":98797046,"identity":"c58d195a-a265-40d1-b5c9-cc026dff6b8c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-22 12:57:29","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":113123,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eshows Tauc’s plot of Tin oxide powder at various temperature.(a) 400°C (b) 500°C (c) 550°C (d) 600°C\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8261569/v1/530df6508b50280d581910d7.png"},{"id":98796460,"identity":"ed5764ed-4e76-49ae-a47f-193aa84ce11f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-22 12:56:15","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":67614,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eshows photocurrent – photovoltage characteristics of tin oxide powder photoelectrode formed at various temperatures (a) 400°C (b) 500°C (c) 550°C (d) 600°C\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8261569/v1/589733171ee77f1bddb82013.png"},{"id":98796745,"identity":"318f1d6a-43b3-4185-bdae-13a6ff5128fb","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-22 12:56:47","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":85400,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eshows IPCE spectrum Tin oxide powder at various temperatures (a) 400°C (b) 500°C (c) 550°C (d) 600°C\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8261569/v1/0d22b27f7f80dd193a90dcf6.png"},{"id":98796570,"identity":"bc244cba-358e-4b65-ae31-1b53446f18c0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-22 12:56:22","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":56598,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eUnnumbered image in the Introduction section.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Unnumberfig1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8261569/v1/24205cda8bd548c93904dda3.png"},{"id":101754092,"identity":"7a3c4f80-c199-480d-8088-ee0857492765","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-03 10:41:35","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1519285,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8261569/v1/cadf18e4-1f82-456c-a3a7-eb31f81664fc.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Performance of Tin Oxide thin films deposited using the doctor blade technique in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC)","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eOne important material that exhibits intriguing superconductor-insulator transition behavior at low temperature and low dimension is transparent conducting oxide (TCO). Tin oxide (SnO2) coating on glass is an essential part of optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells, electrochromic systems, etc., due to its broad band gap and special optical and electrical characteristics. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;[1-3]\u0026nbsp;Dopant concentration and oxygen stoichiometry have a significant impact on these characteristics.\u0026nbsp;The conditions under which a film is prepared dictate its optical and electrical properties. Tin oxide powder can be made in a number of ways, but the sol gel method is the most effective since it is simple to use basic equipment to deposit homogeneous large-area films with the proper shape and control over dopant concentration, among other things. Hydrolysis and condensation processes take place because the procedure uses low temperatures and organic alcoholic solutions of metallic compounds. metal organic precursors or inorganic precursors. Alkoxided metal (M(OR)z), where R is an alkyl group (CxH2x+1). The alkoxide is dissolved with alcohol and hydrolyzed by adding water (either basic, neutral, or acidic conditions are used). \u0026nbsp; In this process, a hydroxyl liquid is used in place of an alkoxide ligand through hydrolysis; during the condensation reaction, hydroxyl ligands create polymers made of M-O-M links. The majority of the byproducts are either alcohol or water. Further reactions result in the formation of silicon oxides. The final powder\u0026apos;s characteristics, such as its porosity, hardness, and refractive index, are influenced by the chemical precursors [4\u0026ndash;7]. Tin oxide nanopowder was created by sol gel dip coating [8]. One of the most crucial elements of DSSC for high power solar efficiency is ruthenium dye. Basically, high conductivity is produced by using either indium or fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) as the TCO materials. This improves the efficiency of charge carrier transmission within the DSSC, is mostly utilized for electrical contacts and chip resistors in the electronics industry.\u0026nbsp;Incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) is used to evaluate DSSC performance. The ratio of incident photons to produced charged carriers generating photocurrent is known as the IPCE. This study reports the IPCE value for tin oxide powder films.\u0026nbsp;In the chemical industry, ruthenium oxide is used to coat the anodes of electrochemical cells that produce chlorine. Moreover, catalysts for the synthesis of acetic acid and ammonia contain ruthenium.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDye sensitized solar cell:-\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrinciple\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe search for a feasible and reasonably priced alternative to the glass substrate used in the production of conventional solar cell devices is being driven by the demand for fossil fuels. As a low-cost dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) photoanode, nanocrystalline tin oxide films have attracted a lot of interest. Molecular dyes are used to increase the sensitivity of mesoporous, nanocrystalline metal oxide coatings to solar radiation. Light stimulates the dye molecules, which shift from the ligand-based Lower Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO) to the metal-based High Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO). The dye\u0026apos;s ligand is attached to the semiconductor, allowing the excited electrons to be further injected into the conduction band. \u0026nbsp;Within a very short time the excited electron is given off to the CB semiconductor. Therefore these electrons can flow through the external load. By recovering one electron from the organic electrolyte solution, the oxidized dye molecule is reduced to its original state.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA DSSC is a semiconductor device that converts solar radiation into electrical energy. It is composed of the several components listed below:\u0026nbsp;\u003cbr\u003e\u0026nbsp;1.Indium doped tin oxide (ITO), fluorine, or doped tin oxide (FTO) are common constituents of one kind of transparent conducting oxide (TCO). Other inexpensive materials that have been used as TCO include graphene, tin oxide, aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO), and doped TiO2.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2. TiO2 nanoparticles are typically used to create the mesoporous metal oxide layer, which serves as a photoanode.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.\u0026nbsp;Dye molecules, or sensitizers, that are fixed to the photoanode.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4.\u0026nbsp;Electrolyte that experiences a redox reaction, primarily iodide-tri iodide electrolyte.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e5. A counter electrode, generally a glass coated with platinum.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn DSSCs, incoming photons are absorbed and stimulated by the dye molecules that are deposited on the surface of the mesoporous TiO2 layer. These excited dye molecules transfer an electron to the conduction band of the mesoporous photoanode network, whereas the dye molecules that lose an electron undergo oxidation. To get to the counter electrode (CE), these injected electrons must travel through the TiO2 layer and the external load. These electrons are used to replenish the lost electron in the oxidized dye by obtaining an electron from the I ion after being transferred to the electrolyte. Tri iodide ions (I3) are created concurrently by the oxidation of the iodide molecules. Finally, I ion regeneration at the CE (cathode) and electron migration across the external load complete the circuit..[9]\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Experimental","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe procedure for obtaining tin oxide powder using sol gel method is published [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e]. After the gel was formed, it was dried at 350 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC in static air and then calcined at 700 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC in flowing air. After thoroughly mixing the powder with the required amount of diammonium hydrogen phosphate, it was suspended in water and heated to 90 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC while being constantly stirred. We are left with pure tin oxide powder following the drying process. The powder was evaluated in a number of research, including\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eX-ray diffraction \u0026ndash; Philips x-ray unit CuKα\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOptical transmission \u0026ndash; U 3400 Hitachi spectrometer\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSurface morphology - SEM-JEOL 7000F\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Fabrication of DSSC:-\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe popular term \"doctors blade coating\" refers to the low-cost method of depositing perovskite thin coatings on a variety of surfaces, from small too big. For the process to be effective, the substrate and blade must move in relation to one another continuously, either by moving the substrate over or underneath the blade. This method involves applying a well-mixed coating solution to the substrate in front of the blade. The resulting slurry effectively spreads over the substrate surface when the blade and carrier surfaces move in relation to one another.After that, it evaporates to produce a film of different thicknesses. The form, thickness, and crystallization of the film are significantly influenced by the solvent used in this procedure, and these factors can all determine how effective thin film\u0026rsquo;s morphology. The ideal angle for doctor blade procedures is between 28\u0026deg; and 29\u0026deg;. A greater portion of the blade's edge will come into contact with the roll if the blade angle falls below 28\u0026deg;. Common doctor blade thicknesses range from 0.150 to 0.500 nm. More uniform ink film is possible with thinner blades because of their immediately noticeable to minor flaws on the anlox surface. The carbon paste-coated counter electrode and dip-coated and doctor blade-sensitized tin oxide films with an active cell area of 0.25 cm2 are used as working electrodes on an FTO substrate. The resulting SnO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e nanopowders obtained after calcination at different temperatures for 4 hours were dispersed in 5 ml of pure ethanol and stirred for 1 h. This was followed by addition of 0.1 g of ethylene glycol and stirred further for another 1 h. Addition of 5 ml of alpha-terpineol and 3 drops of Triton X-100 to the above solution. This was heated at 80\u0026deg;C with stirring for 3 h until a paste consistency was obtained for the deposition of films. Using the doctor blade technique, the aforementioned pastes were applied to FTO glass (5 ohm/sq). To serve as the photoanode electrode, this film was heated to 475\u0026deg;C for 30 minutes. After cooling to room temperature, the photoanode was placed in a 0.05 molar N719 dye solution to absorb dye molecules. To evaluate the photoanodes, they remained in the dye solution for 12 hours. Following the dye loading process, the photoanode was washed with ethanol to remove any unwanted dye molecules. A Serlin spacer and a glass counter electrode coated in platinum were used in the construction of the DSSC. The iodide/tri-iodide electrolyte was vacuum-injected into the DSSC structure through the hole on the platinum electrode.. DSSC structures were obtained on conducting glass substrate and counter electrode was obtained with a conducting coating on the inner side of the substrate.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Result and discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e shows the XRD pattern of tin oxide powder sheets heated for two hours at 500 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC. The single phase rutile structure of tin oxide materials is visible in all of the peaks. The grain size increases from 10 nm to 18 nm as the formation temperature rises. [\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e] This observation indicates that the tin oxide powder sample has better grain sizes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFig-2 shows tin oxide powder at various temperature (a) 400 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC (b) 500 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC (c) 600 \u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable-1 shows Microstructural properties of tin oxide powder samples coated films calcined at different temperatures\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003ctable id=\"Taba\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTin oxide powder sample\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTemperature (\u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC )\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGrain size (nm)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMicro strain (ϵ) x 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDislocation density x 10\u003csup\u003e15\u003c/sup\u003e lines/m\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e400\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4.46\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.55\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e500\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4.44\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.32\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e600\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.14\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.14\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSurface Morphology:-\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSurface morphology can be used to image any surface, including glass, ceramics, composites, biological materials, and polymers. With a resolution of about 2 nm, the scanning electron microscope (SEM) can be used to analyze the topography of materials. As an electron probe scans the material, these electrons are interacting with it. The specimen\u0026apos;s surface releases secondary electrons, which are then captured and recorded. SEMs are used in materials science for quality control, research, and failure analysis. SEMs are widely employed in mesoporous structures, high temperature superconductors, alloy strength, and the study of nanotubes and nanofibres in modern materials science research.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSEM pictures revealed tin oxide nanoparticles with sizes between 6 and 15 nm, indicating a regular and periodic arrangement of lattice planes in the samples, as seen in Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eUV-visible spectrophotometer:\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe quantitative technique of spectrophotometry, also referred to as UV-Vis Spectroscopy, measures the amount of light that a chemical substance absorbs. Figure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e shows the interference fringes (transmittance greater than 80 percent) in the transmission spectra of the films made at various temperatures. An estimate of the absorption coefficient was made. Figure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e shows the band gap value in the 3.68\u0026ndash;3.88 eV region as a plot of (\u0026alpha;h\u0026upsih;)2 vs. h\u0026upsih;. The optical absorption data were obtained from the UV visible diffuse reflectance spectra of tin oxide samples. Warmth reduces the bandgap energy because it increases the crystallite and shifts the optical absorption to a longer wavelength (red shift). A taue plot is used to determine the optical band gap (r\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;2 for indirect permitted transitions) of either disordered or amorphous semiconductors. Using the connection (equation-1), the band gap energies were calculated and found to be 3.92 eV and 4.15 eV.[\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e], in good agreement with the stated value.[\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e]\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDye Sensitized Solar cell and its parameters:\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDSSCs are devices that convert solar energy into electrical energy by utilizing light sensitization integrated into wide -energy band semiconductors. The parameters of dye-sensitized solar cells include conversion efficiency (\u0026eta;), power maximum (Pm), fill factor (ff), open circuit voltage (Voc), and short circuit current (Jsc). Eq.\u0026nbsp;(1) can be used to calculate Voc.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eV\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e = nKT/q ( ln I\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e/ I\u003csub\u003eo\u003c/sub\u003e +1) ---------------------------(1)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePower Maximum:\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn order to find the power maximum, the product of I and V throughout the whole current and voltage output curve is calculated. At this stage, the voltage and current are referred to as Imax and Vmax.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eP\u003csub\u003emax\u003c/sub\u003e = I\u003csub\u003emax\u003c/sub\u003e V\u003csub\u003emax\u003c/sub\u003e ------------------------------------(2)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eFill factor:\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFill factor is defined as the ratio of the cell\u0026apos;s maximal power output to the product of the open circuit voltage and short circuit current. This indicates how far the output has deviated from the ideal.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFF\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;V\u003csub\u003em\u003c/sub\u003eI\u003csub\u003em\u003c/sub\u003e/V\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003eI\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e-------------------------------(3)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003eEfficiency:\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe ratio of electrical energy production to light energy input provides this information.Pin\u0026nbsp;\u003cbr\u003eA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u0026eta;\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;V\u003csub\u003em\u003c/sub\u003eI\u003csub\u003em\u003c/sub\u003eFF = Efficiency ---------(4),\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ewhere A is the electrode\u0026apos;s illuminated region and Pin represents the optical power incident on the electrode. The cells were illuminated using a 250 W Xenon lamp with an infrared-blocking filter (100 m W cm-2). The power conversion efficiency is the ratio of the incident power to the output power. The standard relation was used to assess the DSSCs\u0026apos; efficiency (\u0026eta;). [\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026eta; = (J\u003csub\u003eSC\u003c/sub\u003eV\u003csub\u003eOC\u003c/sub\u003eFF)/P\u003csub\u003ein\u003c/sub\u003e \u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip;\u0026hellip; (5)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIPCE (%)\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1240 \u0026times; JSC / (\u0026lambda;\u0026thinsp;\u0026times;\u0026thinsp;Pin) \u0026times; 100% ---------------- (6)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThis standard relation has the parameters with familiar meaning The photocurrent\u0026ndash;photovoltage characteristic curve of DSSCs using the SnO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e films by doctor blade technique (Fig. \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e) is used to estimate the performance parameters of the DSSCs (summarized in Table- 2). \u0026lambda; (incident light wavelength). Figure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e shows the IPCE wavelength distribution for the photoelectrode that was heated to 500\u0026deg;C. The peak of the photocurrent occurs at about 410 nm. The visible t2 \u0026rarr;\u0026pi;* metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) is represented by the IPCE value at approximately 526 nm (dye absorption). The IPCE value displayed by the DSSC is comparatively high. The DSSC created using the doctor blade procedure yielded efficiency values that were higher than the efficiency. [\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFigure \u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e, shows the characteristics curves of the DSSCs fabricated from the photoanodes prepared with the different SnO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e powders. AM1.0 illumination simulated emission from a tungsten halogen lamp was used. 5 cells from each sample was investigated the repeatability of the cells. The photovoltaic parameters of these cells are summarized in Table 2. The cells prepared using powders calcined at 600\u0026deg;C exhibited maximum efficiency [\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e]. The increased short circuit current brought on by appropriate dye absorption and favorable electrical characteristics is the cause of this superiority. Naturally, this cell\u0026apos;s open circuit voltage is lower than that of the DSSC with 1:0 ratios, but this issue is offset by the cell\u0026apos;s larger current, and with an efficiency of 3.84 percent, this cell has demonstrated the highest efficiency among the others. This superiority can be explained by the fact that these films have higher dye loading, which raises the short circuit current.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable-2 Tin oxide electrodes\u0026apos; photovoltaic performance at different temperatures\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003ctable id=\"Tabb\" border=\"1\" class=\"fr-table-selection-hover\"\u003e\n \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTemperature (\u003csup\u003e0\u003c/sup\u003eC)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eV\u003csub\u003eoc\u003c/sub\u003e (V)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eJ\u003csub\u003esc\u003c/sub\u003e (mA/m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFill factor\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEfficiency (%)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e400\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.53\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.65\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.03\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e500\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.60\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.8\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.58\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.32\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e550\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.63\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6.2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.81\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.20\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e600\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.64\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e8.0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.75\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.84\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eFor 12 hours at room temperature, cis-di (thiocyanate) bis (2-2'-bipyridyl-4-4'-di-carboxylate) ruthenium (II) (R535,N3-dye, Solaronix) was used to create SnO2 thin films using the doctor blade method. In the dye-sensitized solar cell, the dip-coated electrodes deposited using the doctor blade technique demonstrated a relatively good efficiency, indicating that it is appropriate for use in dye-sensitized solar cells. At 100 mW/cm2 of simulated incident light, the optimal device found in this work had an average grain size of 18 nm, a conversion efficiency of 3.84 percent, and 0.63V and 8.0 mA cm-2. Compared to previous reports on tin oxide-based DSSC, this result is higher.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics Consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e:\u0026nbsp;Not applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e:\u0026nbsp;Did not involve identifiable human data (Not Applicable)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting Interest\u003c/strong\u003e:\u0026nbsp;No conflict:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor contribution:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConceptualization, GR, KRM;\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMethodology, GR; KRM KS\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFormal analysis, KRM, GR ,SS\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInvestigation, GR, KRM,SS\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResources, KRM, GR,KS\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWriting original draft preparation, GR,KRM\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReview and editing, KRM, GR\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSupervision, KRM.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData Availability:\u0026nbsp;The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding:\u003c/strong\u003e There is No funding received from any agency\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConflict of Interests:\u003c/strong\u003e Regarding the publishing of this work, the authors state that they have no conflicts of interest.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eH.M.Phillips,Y.Li,Z.Bi,B.Zhang Synthesis and characterization of tin oxide thin films: A Appl.Phys A 63 4 (1996) 347 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01567325\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eV.P.odbole,D.Vispute,S.M.Chaudhari,S.B.Ogale, Dependence of the properties of laser deposited tin oxide films on process variables J.Matter.Res. 5 (1990) 372 https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.1990.0372\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eR.Dolbec,M.A.Elkhakani,A.M.Serventi,M.Trudeau,R.G. Saint-acques, Microstructure and physical properties of nanostructured tin oxide thin films grown by means of pulsed laser deposition Thin solid films,Thin solid films 419 (2002) 230 \u0026ndash; 236 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-6090(02)00769-1\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eC.M.Ghimbeu,R.C.VanLandschoot,J.Schoonman,M.Lumbreras, Preparation and characterization of SnO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and Cu-doped SnO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e thin films using electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) J.Eur.Ceram.Soc.27 (2007) 207 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2006.05.092\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eS. Grigorescu, P. Miglietta, NE Stankova, and A. 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Cells, 86 (2005) 229.A photovoltaic cell incorporating a dye-sensitized ZnS/ZnO composite thin film and a hole-injecting PEDOT layer https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2004.07.006\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eG.Ramanathan, K.R.Murali Optical properties of sol gel dip coated SnO2 films-International Journal of current Advanced Research vol-6 -9 (2017) 5888-5892 https://journalijcar.org/sites/default/files/issue-files/2789-A-2017.pdf\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBach Pham, Debora Willinger, NelliKlinova McMillan, Jackson Roye, William Burnett, Anne D\u0026rsquo;Achille, Jeffery L. Coffer, Benjamin D. Sherman, Tin(IV) oxide nanoparticulate films for aqueous dye-sensitized solar cells Solar Energy 224 (2021) 984\u0026ndash;991 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2021.06.067\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"SnO2, dip coating method, doctor blade techniques","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8261569/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8261569/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eTin oxide materials' photoelectric efficiency is crucial to the operation of dye-sensitized solar cells. Tin oxide powder was made using sol gel dip coating procedures. The gels created by this synthesis process are heated using a range of methods to create tin oxide nanopowder. The prepared tin oxide nano powder charactersitized by various studies such as structural, electrical, and optical properties were investigated and these results are reported in this paper. After the characterisation this material we focused on Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells application. In this study, a simple doctor blade technique is used to deposit SnO2 powder, which is created by the sol gel acrylamide method, onto FTO substrates (5 ohms/sq). This technique can create films with different grain sizes. According to the experimental results, the doctor blade technique outperformed conventional deposition processes in producing SnO2 sheets for use as a photoelectrode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). With an average grain size of 120 nm, the best device discovered in this work had an 8.0 mA cm-2 at 100 mW/cm2 of simulated incident light, a conversion efficiency of 3.84%, and a short circuit current density exclusive of 0.75 V. This result is consistent with earlier studies on undoped tin oxide-based DSSCs.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Performance of Tin Oxide thin films deposited using the doctor blade technique in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC)","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-22 12:46:51","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8261569/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"72d8ebf7-03c2-4b02-bbb5-9f7a464be516","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 22nd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-03T08:10:17+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-22 12:46:51","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8261569","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8261569","identity":"rs-8261569","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}