Increasing incident photon to current efficiency of perovskite solar cells through TiO 2 aerogel-based nanostructured layers

Pinheiro, Geneviève K.; Serpa, Rafael Bento; Souza, Luciana V. de; Sartorelli, M. L.; Reis, Françoise T.; Rambo, Carlos R.

doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2017.05.027

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The TiO 2 aerogel can be obtained by the sol-gel method using special drying methods such as supercritical [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], sublimation [ 21 ], and subcritical [ 22 ] drying or drying under ambient conditions [ 23 ] to preserve the formed mesopores. The most commonly used method for aerogel drying is supercritical drying, and it requires specific equipment and results in high production costs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wide interest in TiO 2 as a semiconductor [ 27 ] can be explained by its promising performance as a heterogeneous photocatalyst for energy and environmental applications, including the photodegradation of organic pollutants for air and water purification [ 28 ], the photo-assisted removal of toxic heavy metals [ 29 ], the production of solar fuels [ 30 ], and the development of self-cleaning surfaces and reflectors [ 31 ]. Recently, TiO 2 aerogels have also been investigated as an electron transport layer in perovskite-based solar cells [ 20 ]. Mesoporous titania is widely used as photoanode material in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) because the mesopores (2–50 nm) are capable of encapsulating bulky dye molecules and the permeation of electrolytes that cannot be accomplished using micropores (< 2 nm) [ 32 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of Precursor Nature and Sol-Gel Synthesis Conditions on TiO2 Aerogel’s Structure

Donėlienė¹,

Fataraitė‐Urbonienė

Rudzikas³

et al. 2021

Molecules

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The aim of this investigation was to synthesize high porosity TiO2 aerogel by applying sol-gel and subcritical drying methods and to identify the influence of reagent’s nature and synthesis conditions on their structural and optical properties. Methods of XRD, FT-IR, BET, STA, SEM, and UV-vis were applied to investigate and compare the properties of synthesized TiO2 aerogels and to determine the most effective synthesis route. The structural parameters of the synthesized materials can be varied by changing the precursor type (titanium (IV), isopropoxide (TIP), or tetrabutylorthotitanate (TBOT)) and the nature of the solvent used for additional exchange (n-hexane (nH), cyclohexane (CH), or diethyl ether (DE)). All of the subcritical dried samples show the amorphous structure, which tends to crystallize into the anatase phase after calcination. The number of micro and mesopores and the specific surface area depends on the synthesis conditions. The pores with the highest diameter have been found for additionally nH exchanged and aged aerogel synthesized from precursor TIP. Despite the imperfections in the structure, the produced aerogels show structural and optical properties typical of the TiO2 structures mentioned in the literature.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Precursor Nature and Sol-Gel Synthesis Conditions on TiO2 Aerogel’s Structure

Donėlienė¹,

Fataraitė‐Urbonienė

Rudzikas³

et al. 2021

Molecules

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“…This in effect could result in adsorption-photocatalytic redox hybrid system, which brings about new porous and adsorption sites that could highly concentrate embattled pollutants around the light harvesting centres of TiO2 particles and consequently be photodegradation thereon rapidly because of their proximity to photocatalytic sites. This can be supported with an assertion that a composite system containing appreciable large surface area material can scaffold TiO2 nanoparticles (Pinheiro et al, 2017), which such can improve surface contact between pollutants and TiO2 as well as mechanical stability of TiO2 in aqueous environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Use of carbon-based composites to enhance performance of TiO2 for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and organics from aqueous environments

Adamu

Shand

Taylor

et al. 2018

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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The simultaneous photocatalytic removal of nitrate from aqueous environment in presence of organic hole scavenger using TiO has long been explored. However, the use of unmodified TiO in such reaction resulted in non-performance or release of significant amount of undesirable reaction products in the process, a problem that triggered surface modification of TiO for enhanced photocatalytic performance. Previous studies focused on decreasing rate of charge carrier recombination and absorption of light in the visible region. Yet, increasing active sites and adsorption capacity by combining TiO with a high surface area adsorbent such as activated carbon (AC) remains unexploited. This study reports the potential of such modification in simultaneous removal of nitrates and oxalic acid in aqueous environment. The adsorptive behaviour of nitrate and oxalic acid on TiO and TiO/AC composites were studied. The Langmuir adsorption coefficient for nitrate was four times greater than that of oxalic acid. However, the amount of oxalic acid adsorbed was about 10 times greater than the amount of nitrate taken up. Despite this advantage, the materials did not appear to produce more active photocatalysts for the simultaneous degradation of nitrate and oxalic acid. The photocatalytic activity of TiO and its carbon-based composites was improved by combination with CuO particles. Consequently, 2.5 CuO/TiO exhibited the maximum photocatalytic performance with 57.6 and 99.8% removal of nitrate and oxalic acid, respectively, while selectivity stood at 45.7, 12.4 and 41.9% for NH, NO and N, respectively. For the carbon based, 2.5 CuO/TiO-20AC showed removal of 12.7% nitrate and 80.3% oxalic acid and achieved 21.6, 0 and 78.4% selectivity for NH, NO and N, respectively. Using the optimal AC loading (20 wt%) resulted in significant decrease in the selectivity for NH with no formation of NO, which unveils that selectivity for N and low/no selectivity for undesirable products can be manipulated by controlling the rate of consumption of oxalic acid. In contract, no nitrate reduction was observed with CuO promoted TiO-T and its TiO-(T)-20AC, which may be connected to amorphous nature of TiO-T and perhaps served as charge carrier trapping sites that impeded activity.

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“…Titania can also be used in other applications, such as photocatalytic water splitting, removal of pollutants from the environment [ 11 , 12 ], solar cells [ 13 ], rechargeable batteries [ 14 ], sensors, supercapacitors, and biomedical devices [ 13 , 15 ]. In particular, for solar cell applications, a mesoporous TiO 2 with a large specific surface area is essential to increase the amount of dye adsorption [ 16 , 17 ] or perovskite adsorption, as well as the power conversion efficiency [ 18 , 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of the Precursor’s Nature and Drying Conditions on the Structure, Morphology, and Thermal Properties of TiO2 Aerogels

Donėlienė¹,

Fataraitė‐Urbonienė

Danchova

et al. 2022

Gels

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A cost-effective solution for the synthesis of high-porosity TiO2 aerogels, which can be used as a mesoporous perovskite network charge-carrier material during the manufacture of solar cells, is described. The effects of the synthesis parameters (precursor (titanium (IV) isopropoxide (TIP) and tetrabutyl orthotitanate (TBOT)), additional solvent exchange (n-hexane (nH), cyclohexane (CH), and diethyl ether (DE)), subcritical drying (800 mbar vacuum, 70 °C, 8 h), aging, and calcination on the aerogel’s structure have been investigated. Methods of XRD, FT-IR, BET, Raman, STA, SEM, UV–vis, and thermal conductivity measurements were applied to find out the relation between the synthesis conditions and the properties of the synthesized aerogels. Amorphous aerogels are polydispersed systems with the highest probability of pore diameter from 0.5 to 15 nm. An nH-exchanged, aged aerogel synthesized from the precursor TIP shows the highest diameter of pores. After calcination, the aerogels tend to crystallize into an anatase phase and the size of the crystallites depends on the precursor’s nature. Calcination leads to a significant increase in both the apparent and true density of the aerogels, and it also results in an increase in porosity and thermal conductivity.

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Increasing incident photon to current efficiency of perovskite solar cells through TiO 2 aerogel-based nanostructured layers

Cited by 16 publications

References 20 publications

Effect of Precursor Nature and Sol-Gel Synthesis Conditions on TiO2 Aerogel’s Structure

Effect of Precursor Nature and Sol-Gel Synthesis Conditions on TiO2 Aerogel’s Structure

Use of carbon-based composites to enhance performance of TiO2 for the simultaneous removal of nitrates and organics from aqueous environments

The Influence of the Precursor’s Nature and Drying Conditions on the Structure, Morphology, and Thermal Properties of TiO2 Aerogels

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