N/Al‐Incorporated TiO₂Nanocompositesfor Improved Device Performance of aDye‐Sensitized Solar Cell

Abstract

We report application of aluminium co-doped with nitrogen titania nanocomposite (Al/N-TiO 2 ) prepared by hydrothermal method as photoanode for very efficient dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The Al/N-TiO 2 nano-composites are characterized by spectral viz. UV-visible, XRD, FTIR, XPS techniques. TEM, SEM, EDX and BET are used to obtain their particle size, morphology and surface area. The DSSC with Al/N co-doped TiO 2 as photoanode and N719 sensitizer dye exhibited an overall light conversion efficiency of 6.24 %, which is much improved compared to that of un-modified TiO 2 (1.69 %) under 100 mW/ cm 2 light irradiation. The improved efficiency with Al/N codoped TiO 2 is attributed to greater dye loading, increased surface area, rapid interfacial charge transfer, slow charge recombination and strong red shift of light absorption in the visible region as compared with un-doped TiO 2 . The effect of the Al concentration on the current density is studied and optimum Al concentration with N-doped TiO 2 is observed to be 1.0 mole%. The work establishes that the as prepared Al/N codoped TiO 2 is impending photoanode material for low-cost and high-efficiency DSSC.

Development of BiOBr/TiO2 nanotubes electrode for conversion of nitrogen to ammonia in a tandem photoelectrochemical cell under visible light

“…For Pt/FTO preparation, the FTO glass (4 x 1.5 cm) was cleaned by sonication in ethanol for 10 minutes. The conducting part of the FTO glass dripped slowly with 20 mM H2PtCl6 solution in ethanol, dried in the open air, and then heated at 380℃ for 30 minutes (Neetu et al, 2017). The I -/I3electrolyte solution was prepared by dissolving 0.13 g of I2 crystals in a mixed solvent of 5 mL ethylene glycol and 20 mL acetonitrile, then adding 0.18 g of KI continuing by stirring for 30 minutes (Gu et al, 2017).…”

Preparation, Characterization and Photosensitizing Activities of Homoleptic Cu(II) Dithiocarbamates in TiO2‐Based DSSC

“…Complexes 1 and 3 ( Figure S8, ESI †) contain one half-monomer and 4 contains one half-dimer in the asymmetric unit whereas in 2, three independent molecules called 2 A, 2B and 2 C, the latter with a centre of symmetry, are present. The planar geometry is distorted only by the small S-M-S bite angle of 77.37 (7) and 77.57(11)°in 1 and 3 and 77.44 (7), 77.38 (8) and 77.17 (6) in 2 A, 2B and 2 C. The Cu1-S11 and Cu1-S13 distances at 2.288(2), 2.305(3) and 2.324(2), 2.297(3) Å in 1, 3 while the CuÀ S distances in 2 A À 2 C are in the range 2.287(2) À 2.311(2) Å. All distances are well within those found in similar structures in the literature.…”

“…[1,2] The main obstacle with DSSC application is its low efficiency compared to traditional solar cells. Several approaches have been adopted to improve the efficiency of DSSC such as using modified TiO 2 , [3][4][5][6][7][8] counter electrodes, [9,10] new dye sensitizers [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] and stabilized electrolytes. [21][22][23] Ever since Grätzel et al reported unprecedented, 7.1-7.9% cell efficiency with DSSC employing nanocrystalline TiO 2 photoanode and ruthenium based N3 dye, [cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis (2,2'-bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxylato) ruthenium(II)] [11a] and even better performances using other ruthenium polypyridyl complex based dyes, [11b,c,24] the ruthenium complexes are the most studied sensitizer dyes for TiO 2 based DSSC.…”

“…The main obstacle with DSSC application is its low efficiency compared to traditional solar cells. Several approaches have been adopted to improve the efficiency of DSSC such as using modified TiO 2 , counter electrodes, new dye sensitizers and stabilized electrolytes . Ever since Grätzel et al.…”