Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Anatase TiO₂Nanorods Prepared by Hydrothermal Method

Abstract

The hydrothermal method provides an effective reaction environment for the synthesis of nanocrystalline materials with high purity and well-controlled crystallinity. In this work, we started with various sizes of commercial TiO 2 powders and used the hydrothermal method to prepare TiO 2 thin films. We found that the synthesized TiO 2 nanorods were thin and long when smaller TiO 2 particles were used, while larger TiO 2 particles produced thicker and shorter nanorods. We also found that TiO 2 films prepared by TiO 2 nanorods exhibited larger surface roughness than those prepared by the commercial TiO 2 particles. It was found that a pure anatase phase of TiO 2 nanorods can be obtained from the hydrothermal method. The dye-sensitized solar cells fabricated with TiO 2 nanorods exhibited a higher solar efficiency than those fabricated with commercial TiO 2 nanoparticles directly. Further, triple-layer structures of TiO 2 thin films with different particle sizes were investigated to improve the solar efficiency.

Influence of $$\hbox {TiO}_{2}$$ TiO 2 particle size and conductivity of the CuCrO $$_{2}$$ 2 nanoparticles on the performance of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

“…The short-circuit current density (J SC ) and open-circuit voltage (V OC ) of sample B are 0.127 mA cm −2 and 215 mV, respectively, which are higher than those of sample A (0.058 mA cm −2 and 170 mV), leading to a significant enhancement of efficiency (0.010% compared to 0.0037% for sample A). It is well known that the TiO 2 photoanode constructed from the smaller particles has greater surface area than that having larger particles [30] and therefore, the amount of the adsorbed dye by the TiO 2 photoanode fabricated with small particles is more [31]. UV-Vis absorption spectra of desorbed N719 dye from the TiO 2 photoanode confirms our statement about the amount of adsorbed dye on the surface of nanoparticles (figure 3b).…”

Synthesis of Mesoporous TiO2 Spheres via the Solvothermal Process and Its Application in the Development of DSSC

“…To increase the conversion efficiency of the DSSC developed in this study, it would be very convenient to work with the following alternatives in the near future: (a) Mix TiO 2 m spheres with TiO 2 p in powder form (called nanoparticle underlayer or nanocrystalline titania coating) without a spherical morphology to fill the gaps between TiO 2 m spheres and thus build DSSC. (b) Use a mesoporous TiO 2 p layer in powder form (without a spherical morphology), depositing the mesoporous spheres on that layer, that is, build the solar cell heterostructure with the configuration SnO 2 : F/TiO 2 c /TiO 2 p /TiO 2 m /N719/I − /I 3 − /Pt/SnO 2 : F. In the said heterostructure, the TiO 2 m layer would function as a scattering layer, as already reported in the literature, which would result in a structure with greater conversion efficiency [50].…”

Preliminary study of application of Moringa oleifera resin as polymer electrolyte in DSSC solar cells

“…Based on the data in Table 1, the difference performance of DSSC was because by TiO 2 particle size, kind of dye and counter electrode [11]. According to Jeng, et al (2013) that TiO 2 particle size related with scattering effect, number of loading and light large surface area.…”