Son, Ho-JinWang, XinweiPrasittichai, ChaiyaJeong, Nak CheonAaltonen, TittaGordon, RoyHupp, Joseph T.2013-01-072012Son, Ho-Jin, Xinwei Wang, Chaiya Prasittichai, Nak Cheon Jeong, Titta Aaltonen, Roy Gerald Gordon, and Joseph T. Hupp. 2012. Glass-encapsulated light harvesters: More efficient dye-sensitized solar cells by deposition of self-aligned, conformal, and self-limited silica layers. Journal of the American Chemical Society 134(23): 9537–9540.0002-78631520-5126http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10139291A major loss mechanism in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) is recombination at the \(TiO_2\)/electrolyte interface. Here we report a method to reduce greatly this loss mechanism. We deposit insulating and transparent silica \((SiO_2)\) onto the open areas of a nanoparticulate \(TiO_2\) surface while avoiding any deposition of \(SiO_2\) over or under the organic dye molecules. The \(SiO_2\) coating covers the highly convoluted surface of the \(TiO_2\) conformally and with a uniform thickness throughout the thousands of layers of nanoparticles. DSCs incorporating these selective and self-aligned \(SiO_2\) layers achieved a 36% increase in relative efficiency versus control uncoated cells.en-USJournal Article2013-01-0710.1021/ja300015n