Chemisorption Determines the Photovoltage of a Ti/TiO₂/Au/Dye Internal Electron Emission Photovoltaic Cell

Abstract

The Ti/TiO 2 /Au junction forms the basis of a promising new type of photovoltaic cell, provided that a lightharvesting antenna layer can be deposited on the thin gold film. We report that the electrical diode characteristics of the TiO 2 /Au Schottky barrier deteriorate by deposition of a hydrophobic quantum dot film, Merbromin dye adsorption, or electron-hole photogeneration in TiO 2 under inert conditions. In the presence of oxygen and water vapor, the Schottky barrier characteristics and high photovoltage are recovered. The strong influence of the TiO 2 surface chemistry on the (photo)electrical characteristics of the solar cell is discussed on the basis of an existing microscopic model.

Solution-Processed TiO2-Based Schottky Diodes With a Large Barrier Height

“…15 V is the highest anodizing voltage used in this work, and all the titanium oxide films anodized at lower voltages did not show a porous or nanotube structure either. The smooth surface results from the low concentration and weak acidity of citric acid, the low voltages and short times of anodization [22]. The thicknesses of titanium oxide anodized at different voltages can be estimated by the ratio 1.5 nm/V [23].…”

Dye sensitized CO2 reduction over pure and platinized TiO2

“…TiO 2 /metal/sensitizer systems have been previously demonstrated for their photovoltaic efficiencies [29]. Mc Farland and Tang have proposed a new generation of a photovoltaic device using a layer of gold nanoparticles over Ti/TiO 2 structures to establish a Schottky barrier and a photoreceptor layer over the gold films [30].…”

“…The photooxidized donor was reduced via the thermalized electrons from the states near the Fermi level of the metal. Koole et al [29] have recently demonstrated that these structures deteriorate very easily under vacuum, and the presence of adsorbates such as oxygen and water vapor assisted the preservation of Schottky barrier and photovoltaic characteristics.…”

Facile synthesis of transparent and fluorescent epoxy–CdSe–CdS–ZnS core–multi shell polymer nanocomposites

“…This includes fabrication of devices, such as solar cells, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and so on. [16][17][18][19][20][21] In the fabrication of devices, the quantum dots need to be well dispersed and must be compatible with the supporting matrix while transferring it into a composite. [22][23][24][25] In search of suitable matrices for device fabrication, polymers have been found to be ideal candidates.…”