Study of dye sensitized solar cell application of TiO2 nanostructured films synthesis by hydrothermal process

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to use a hydrothermal process to synthesize titanium dioxide (TiO2) nano-rods (TNRs) film on 15 mmx15 mm size of fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive glass as the photo-anodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). A TiO2 seed layer with anatase structure was deposited on a fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate by spin coating. 1.75g potassium titanium oxalate (K2TiO(C2O4)2)was added to the mixture solvent of 100mL containing de-ionized (DI) water and diethylene glycol (DEG), and vigorously stirred for 30 min. The hydrothermal synthesis was conducted at 180 °C for 9 h for the growth of the TiO2 nanowire arrays. N719 dyes as well as the iodine ions electrolyte were served as the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) components, and the DSSC devices were analyzed by I-V meters to determine the photo-conversion efficiency. Up to date, the optimal TNRs films revealed the best photo-conversion efficiency of 5.96% under illumination of simulated AM1.5 solar light (100 mWcm −2 ). In this study, the films synthesized using optimum process parameters with a high specific surface area and well-aligned TNRs morphology can significantly improve the photo-conversion efficiency.

Influence of precursor solution concentration on the structural, optical and humidity sensing properties of spray-deposited TiO2thin films

“…In recent years, wide ranges of nanosized and nanoshaped materials have been formulated to enhance properties such as chemical, electrical, mechanical, and optical properties. Significant efforts have been made to synthesize TiO 2 thin films, including sol gel and hydrothermal methods [1] , thermal evaporation [2] , chemical bath [3] , spray pyrolysis, etc. The spray pyrolysis technique is one of the simplest and cheapest techniques for the preparation of thin films with a larger area.…”