Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Based on a Single-Crystalline TiO₂ Nanorod Film

Abstract

Highly crystalline TiO2 nanorods with lengths of 100-300 nm and diameters of 20-30 nm have been synthesized by a hydrothermal process in a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactant solution. The microstructure measured by X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy was a pure highly crystalline anatase phase with a long nanorod shape. The addition of a triblock copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)100-poly(propylene oxide) 65-poly(ethylene oxide)100 (F127) decreased the length of the nanorods and kept the rod shape of the particles even after sintering at high temperatures. The rod shape kept under high calcination temperatures contributed to the achievement of the high conversion efficiency of light-to-electricity as discussed in the paper. A high conversion efficiency of light-to-electricity of 7.29% was obtained with the TiO2 single-crystalline anatase nanorod cell.

Nanomaterials for renewable energy production and storage

“…242 It is believed that TiO 2 nanotubes could be superior to nanorods or nanowires because of the availability of inner as well as outer walls of tubes for dye adsorption. [225][226][227][228][229][230][231][232][233][234][235][236][237][238][239][240][241][242][243][244] In 2007, Zhu et al reported the dynamics of electron transport and recombination in DSSCs incorporating oriented TiO 2 nanotube (NT) arrays. 229 The NT arrays consisted of closely packed NTs, several microns in length, with typical wall thickness and inter-tube spacing of 8-10 nm and pore diameters of about 30 nm, as shown in Fig.…”

Synthesis and Characterization of Ultrathin WO3 Nanodisks Utilizing Long-Chain Poly(ethylene glycol)

“…Nanorod systems of ZnO, Fe 2 O 3 , and TiO 2 have been investigated as both solar cells and PEC cells, and core-shell InPCdS and InP-ZnTe have been theoretically proposed as PEC materials. [10][11][12][13] Historically, 0-D (quantum dot) and 1-D (nanorod) nanostructures have received significant attention over the past 10 years, whereas 2-D nanostructures (e.g., nanodisks) have been the subject of significantly fewer investigations. [14][15][16][17][18] Previous work with WO 3 has produced spherical nanoparticle and nanorod/nanobelt thin films on various substrates via laser ablation, sol-gel, and vapor deposition techniques.…”

Synthesis of a-Fe2O3 Nano Powders by Novel UV Irradiation Method

“…A nanomaterial was classified to one dimensional such as surface films, two dimensional as a fiber and three dimensional such as particles. The one of the important oxides are iron oxide nanoparticles that which has many forms such as α-Fe2O3, β-Fe2O3, γ-Fe2O3, -Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 and many implementations [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] . α-Fe2O3 is a common mineral and more stable phase of iron oxides [9] .…”