Solution processable titanium dioxide precursor and nanoparticulated ink: Application in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Colloidal TiO2 anatase nanoparticles of 4-8 nm diameter capped with 3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid (TODA) were synthesized at low temperature using water and ethanol as the solvents. ATR-FTIR and (1)H NMR characterization showed the capping acid capability of stabilizing the TiO2 nanoparticles through labile hydrogen bonds. The presence of the capping ligand permitted the further preparation of homogeneous and stable colloidal dispersions of the TiO2 powder in aqueous media. Moreover, after solvent evaporation, the ligand could be easily eliminated by soft treatments, such as UV irradiation or low-temperature thermal annealing. These properties have been used in this work to fabricate mesoporous TiO2 electrodes, which can be applied as photoanodes in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs). For the preparation of the electrodes, the as-synthesized mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles were mixed with commercial TiO2 (Degussa P25) and deposited on FTO substrates by using the doctor blade technique. A mixture of water and ethanol was used as the solvent. A soft thermal treatment at 140 °C for 2h eliminated the organic compound and produced a sintered mesoporous layer of 6 μm thickness. The photovoltaic performance of the DSSCs applying these electrodes sensitized with the N3 dye resulted in 5.6% power conversion efficiency.

Differential Effects of Surface-Functionalized Zirconium Oxide Nanoparticles on Alveolar Macrophages, Rat Lung, and a Mouse Allergy Model

“…In this work we aimed to compare the effects of specific surface coatings of ZrO 2 NPs using four different industrially relevant coatings frequently used to enhance particle dispersion, namely basic aminopropylsilane (APTS), acidic tetraoxadecanoic acid (TODS), and acidic acrylic acid (Acryl) coating [ 15 ]. Furthermore, a polyethyleneglycol (PGA) coating was enrolled in the study, which in many applications confers on nanoparticles a considerable degree of biocompatibility, i.e., by preventing their rapid uptake by the reticuloenthothelial system [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”

Multichromic Triphenylamine-based dyes: Designing better interfaces for DSSC applications

“…This is for two reasons: to remove the surfactants originally used, and if a metal or oxide dispersion was created, to provide a proper conductive film morphology. 65 Surfactants can disrupt the performance of printed thin films;…”

“…the crude film can be treated to a high temperature or exposed to UV light. 65 The use of capping agents that can easily cleave photocatalytically are becoming popular to reduce post-processing temperatures.…”

Digital Printing of Titanium Dioxide for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

“…When a load is connected, the electrons move to the counter electrode through the external circuit and are finally reunited with their counter charges through the redox couple present in the electrolyte 1 . The nano-structured metal oxide layer within DSSCs plays a critical role in the overall performance of the cell, with material choice, processing methods and nature of the structure all having influencing factors [5][6][7][8][9][10] . One of the most important requirements for the photoanode is that it needs to have an extremely large surface area.…”