929 ISSN 1023-1935, Russian Journal of Electrochemistry, 2020, Vol. 56, No. 11, pp. 929–937. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2020. Published in Russian in Elektrokhimiya, 2020, Vol. 56, No. 11, pp. 1024–1033. Implementation of a TiO 2 /N719-Dye Photo-Anode in a DSSC and Performance Analysis 1 Manuel Antuch a, *, Sergey A. Grigoriev b, **, Waleed M. A. El Rouby a, с , and Pierre Millet a a Université Paris-Saclay, Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d’Orsay, UMR CNRS 8182, Orsay, 91405 France b National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute,” Moscow, 123182 Russia с Beni-Suef University, Faculty of Postgraduate Studies for Advanced Science, Beni-Suef, 62511 Egypt *e-mail: manuel.antuch-cubillas@ensta-paris.fr **e-mail: grigoriev_sa@nrcki.ru Received December 31, 2019; revised February 8, 2020; accepted February 20, 2020 Abstract—Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) are promising photovoltaic systems which are used to convert visible light into useful DC electric power. Up to now, a lot of efforts have been made for optimizing cell com- ponents and maximizing the power conversion efficiency, and a large body of experimental work has been reported in the literature. However, it is not always clear which light conditions favor increased efficiency and what are the limiting factors that govern the overall kinetics of the DSSC. In this work we have used three different light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to characterize the performances of a model DSSC under different illumination conditions. A thorough characterization of the dynamics of microscopic processes taking place during operation of the DSSC was performed by Photoelectrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy and Inten- sity Modulated Photovoltage Spectroscopy analysis. Microscopic rate parameters associated to charge recombination and charge transfer have been determined separately under various light power densities. Results show that the dynamics of charge transport and recombination within the DSSC depends on light power, but is independent of the energy of the photons emitted by the LEDs. The relationship between the wavelength-dependent incident-photon-to-current efficiency and the LED emitted photons at 594 nm, which was the determinant factor contributing to a larger short-circuit current and hence the increased effi- ciency, was analyzed. The best illumination conditions required to extract the maximum power from a DSSC were analyzed and discussed. Keywords: photoelectrochemistry, dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC), photoelectrode, photoelectrochemical impedance spectroscopy, intensity modulated photovoltage spectroscopy DOI: 10.1134/S102319352010002X INTRODUCTION Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) have emerged a truly practical alternative for the photovoltaic genera- tion of electricity. They can contribute to a diversifica- tion of the world’s energetic matrix in the near future. Several companies, for example Solaronix [1], Great- Cell Solar [2] (former Dyesol) or EXEGER [3], are directing their efforts to widen the market of DSSC photovoltaic applications and installations. They have for example integrated the technology into modern buildings for ornamental applications. The production of these innovative devices is expected to increase to 1000000 m 2 /year [4]. Most DSSCs contain a working photoanode which is frequently made of a meso- porous semiconducting material (typically TiO 2 ) with nanometer size particles. The layer is photo-sensitized by adsorption of a monolayer of dye that absorbs light in the visible range. Upon visible-light excitation, the excited dye is able to inject charge to the conduction band of the semiconductor, then electrons diffuse until they reach a current collector and are subse- quently transported through an external circuit reach- ing the cathode (also known as back-contact or counter-electrode). At the cathode, the electrons reduce the oxidized form of an electrolyte (typically the I 3 |I – redox couple), then the reduced form of the electrolyte diffuses towards the working photoanode and reacts in order to regenerate the dye. The principle of such DSSC is schematically summarized in Fig. 1. From the academic viewpoint, a huge amount of results aimed at increasing the efficiency and durabil- ity of these cells (e.g. by the chemical optimization of DSSC components) have already been reported in the scientific literature [5–16]. As a matter of fact, DSSCs are intended to be used not only for out-doors appli- cations in order to convert direct solar light to electric- ity: they are also very useful for in-doors applications, 1 In memory of the famous electrochemist Vladimir Sergeevich Bagotzky whose centenary is celebrated in 2020.