Major loss factors for photo-generated electrons due to the presence of surface defects in titanium dioxide (TiO₂) were controlled by RF-sputtered tungsten trioxide (WO₃) passivation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy assured the coating of WO₃ on the TiO₂ nanoparticle layer by showing Ti 2p, W 4f and O 1s characteristic peaks and were further confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies. The coating of WO₃ on the TiO₂ nanoparticle layer did not affect dye adsorption significantly. Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) fabricated using WO₃-coated TiO₂ showed an enhancement of ~10% compared to DSSCs fabricated using pristine TiO₂-based photo-electrodes. It is attributed to the WO₃ passivation on TiO₂ that creates an energy barrier which favored photo-electron injection by tunneling but blocked reverse electron recombination pathways towards holes available in highest occupied molecular orbital of the dye molecules. It was further evidenced that there is an optimum thickness (duration of coating) of WO₃ to improve the DSSC performance and longer duration of WO₃ suppressed photo-electron injection from dye to TiO₂ as inferred from the detrimental effect in short circuit current density values. RF-sputtering yields pinhole-free, highly uniform and conformal coating of WO₃ onto any area of interest, which can be considered for an effective surface passivation for nanostructured photovoltaic devices.

由于二氧化钛 (TiO ₂ ) 中存在表面缺陷而导致的光生电子的主要损失因子通过射频溅射三氧化钨 (WO ₃ ) 钝化来控制。X 射线光电子能谱通过显示 Ti 2p、W 4f 和 O 1s 特征峰确保了 WO ₃在 TiO ₂纳米颗粒层上的涂层，并通过 X 射线衍射研究进一步证实。TiO ₂纳米颗粒层上的WO ₃涂层对染料吸附没有显着影响。_{与使用原始 TiO 2制造的 DSSC 相比，使用 WO 3}涂层的 TiO ₂制造的染料敏化太阳能电池 (DSSC)显示出约 10% 的增强基光电极。这归因于 TiO _{2上的 WO 3}钝化产生的能量势垒，该能量势垒有利于通过隧穿进行光电子注入，但阻断了朝向染料分子的最高占据分子轨道中可用的空穴的反向电子重组路径。进一步证明，从短路电流密度的不利影响推断， WO ₃存在一个最佳厚度（涂层持续时间）以提高 DSSC 性能，并且 WO _{3抑制从染料到 TiO 2}的光电子注入的持续时间更长价值观。射频溅射产生无针孔、高度均匀和保形的 WO _3涂层到任何感兴趣的区域，可以考虑对纳米结构光伏器件进行有效的表面钝化。