Correlating titania morphology and chemical composition with dye-sensitized solar cell performance

Abstract

We have investigated the use of various morphologies, including nanoparticles, nanowires, and sea-urchins of TiO(2) as the semiconducting material used as components of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Analysis of the solar cells under AM 1.5 solar irradiation reveals the superior performance of hydrothermally derived nanoparticles, by comparison with two readily available commercial nanoparticle materials, within the DSSC architecture. The sub-structural morphology of films of these nanostructured materials has been directly characterized using SEM and indirectly probed using dye desorption. Furthermore, the surfaces of these nanomaterials were studied using TEM in order to visualize their structure, prior to their application within DSSCs. Surface areas of the materials have been quantitatively analyzed by collecting BET adsorption and dye desorption data. Additional investigation using open circuit voltage decay measurements reveals the efficiency of electron conduction through each TiO(2) material. Moreover, the utilization of various chemically distinctive titanate materials within the DSSCs has also been investigated, demonstrating the deficiencies of using these particular chemical compositions within traditional DSSCs.

Photoanode Area Dependent Efficiency and Recombination Effects in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

“…So, the increase in diffusion length creates an opportunity to optimize the thickness for increased photogeneration balancing the recombination currents, leading to a further increase in J sc . [34][35][36] To test the hypothesis of preferential dye desorption at the edges of the P25 photoanodes, the photopotenital profiles for a 0.04 cm 2 area device were obtained using a DSC fabricated with P25 nanoparticles sensitized with the N-719 dye and then infiltrated with a P(VDF-co-HFP) based quasi-solid state electrolyte ( Figure 6). To verify if highly efficient DSCs also show an area dependent efficiency, photoanodes with a layered structure comprising of a compact TiO 2 nanoparticle layer formed by TiCl 4 treatment, followed by an active layer (particle diameter ∼ 15 nm) and scattering layer (particle diameter ∼ 200 nm) were fabricated.…”

Correlating the chemical composition and size of various metal oxide substrates with the catalytic activity and stability of as-deposited Pt nanoparticles for the methanol oxidation reaction

“…Specifically, Figure S1 All BET values were found to be consistent with other measured BET data for each metal oxide tested herein, possessing a particular range in size, as noted from prior literature. 14,23,[38][39][40][41][42] It is also important to note that the synthesis method plays an important role in controlling the overall surface area of the material. A table including data from metal oxides synthesized by others with similar BET surface area analysis measurements to our own can be found in the SI, which support our own BET data (Table S1).…”

Fabrication of hierarchical porous anodized titania nano-network with enhanced active surface area: Ruthenium-based dye adsorption studies for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) application

“…The active surface area of conventional and hierarchical TiO 2 nanotubes was analyzed by performing a dye adsorption test [39]. Titanium plates containing conventional titania nanotubes (prepared via first step anodization, as previously described), hierarchical porous nano-networks (prepared via second step anodization in different aged electrolytes), and a control polished titanium (Ti) having equal dimensions were ultrasonically cleaned using distilled water and acetone, and dried before the experiment.…”