Soft‐template synthesis of high surface area mesoporous titanium dioxide for dye‐sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Summary In the present work, 10 to 14 nm titania nanoparticles with high‐packing density are synthesized by the soft‐template method using a range of cationic surfactants including cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB). The synthesized nanoparticles are used as a photoanode material in dye solar cells. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations reproduce our experimental results of charge transfer and strong interaction between the TiO2 and N719. N719‐TiO2 complex establishes strong electrostatic bonding through H of the dye with the O of TiO2 surface. Solar cell efficiency of 6.08% with 12.63 mA/cm2, 793 mV, and 48.5% for short circuit current density, open circuit voltage, and fill factor, respectively, are obtained under 1 sun illumination for the dye‐sensitized solar cell (DSSC) using a film of mesoporous TiO2 synthesized from the SDS surfactant. On the other hand, the 21 nm commercial TiO2 powder (P25) device results in 4.60% efficiency under similar conditions. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopic studies show that the SDS device has lesser charge transport resistance than the other devices because of its higher surface area, packing density, and dye loading capacity. Our results show that employing high packing density‐based TiO2 nanoparticles represents a commercially viable approach for highly beneficial photoanode development for future DSSC applications.

A review of synthesis and morphology of SrTiO 3 for energy and other applications

“…This is because the TiO 2 ‐based dye sensitised solar cell (DSSC) has been demonstrated as super‐efficient at electron transportation, producing high photoconversion efficiency and high photocurrent density . Moreover, frequently used inorganic dyes are functionalised with carboxylate or phosphate anchors that prone to adsorb better onto TiO 2 than SrTiO 3 . Despite of its weak properties, SrTiO 3 has been noted to present a CB potential more capable of unbiased proton reduction.…”

A New Functional Composite for Photovoltaic and Sensor Applications

“…In dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the anatase phase is considered to be the best‐suited material so far exhibiting higher photovoltaic performance than other polymorphs of TiO 2 . [ 6–8 ] In order to enhance the performance and related efficiency of DSSC, significant efforts have been devoted in improving the host TiO 2 , which acts as a framework for DSSCs. However, mixing different phases followed by a heterostructure formation of TiO 2 has been found to result in better power conversion efficiency (PCE) than the sole usage of pure anatase.…”

Synthesis and application of Fe 3 O 4 @nanocellulose/TiCl as a nanofiller for high performance of quasisolid‐based dye‐sensitized solar cells

“…There are three types of electrolytes in this regard, including liquid electrolyte (or organic solvent and ionic liquid electrolyte), quasisolid‐state electrolyte, and solid electrolyte. Because of their deep pervasion into nanocrystalline film electrodes, high efficiency, low viscosity, fast ion diffusion, and ease of designing, organic solvent electrolytes have been widely used in DSSCs . One of the main problems in the use of an organic solvent electrolyte is its low term stability, which is caused by its high‐temperature instability, low boiling point, easy evaporation, leakage, and difficulty of sealing.…”

“…Because of their deep pervasion into nanocrystalline film electrodes, high efficiency, low viscosity, fast ion diffusion, and ease of designing, organic solvent electrolytes have been widely used in DSSCs. [11][12][13][14][15][16] One of the main problems in the use of an organic solvent electrolyte is its low term stability, which is caused by its hightemperature instability, low boiling point, easy evaporation, leakage, and difficulty of sealing. To overcome this problem, a lot of compounds have been used to replace organic-based electrolytes with solid or quasisolid-state electrolytes including inorganic p-type semiconductors, 17 polymer gel electrolytes, [18][19][20][21][22] and organic hole transport materials.…”