Synthesis of mesoporous titanium dioxide by soft template based approach: characterization and application in dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

The present work demonstrates the usefulness of the soft-template directed approach in preparing mesoporous titanium dioxide and applying it in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Mesoporous titanium dioxide with nanograins of dimension in the range, 16-20 nm were prepared through the soft-templating approach using various cationic surfactants such as octyl-, dodecyl-, cetyl trimethylammonium bromide with different surfactant compositions and titania precursor concentrations. As-synthesized mesoporous titanium dioxide samples were characterized by TGA, PXRD, FESEM, HRTEM and surface area measurements, used as photo-electrode material in DSSCs. Under global AM 1.5 solar irradiation, the best photovoltaic performance of 7.5% with a short circuit photocurrent density of 14.2 mA/cm À2 , an open circuit voltage of 748 mV, and a fill factor of 70.83% were obtained for the DSSC using a film of mesoporous TiO 2 synthesized from the cetyl trimethylammoniumbromide surfactant. In contrast, the use of commercial titania powder P25 resulted in an efficiency of 5.0% under similar conditions. The structural and morphological merits of these template-directed materials will be especially addressed in comparison with their traditional bulk forms.

Dye‐Sensitised Solar Cells Based on Large‐Pore Mesoporous TiO2 with Controllable Pore Diameters

“…[19][20][21][22][23] I. Kartini et al applied mesoporous TiO 2 with a pore diameter of 7.7 nm to fabricate DSSCs, which achieved an η value of 5.05 %. [19] Mesoporous TiO 2 with a pore diameter of 6.2 nm was prepared by K. Hou et al using surfactant P123 as a template, and the corresponding DSSCs had an η value of 5.31 %.…”

Effects of pore size on the photocatalytic activity of mesoporous TiO2 prepared by a sol–gel process

“…Titanium dioxide has attracted significant attention for applications in photocatalysis [1][2][3][4], dye-sensitized solar cells [5][6][7], lithium-ion batteries [8][9][10], etc. Among the three major polymorphs, namely anatase, rutile, and brookite, anatase shows the highest photocatalytic activity [11].…”

Thermal treatment synthesis of SnO2 nanoparticles and investigation of its light harvesting application

“…Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are accepted to be used for future clean energy [1,2]. In the process of light-to-electric conversion for the DSCs, photons from sunlight are absorbed by a dye adsorbed on a semiconductor, and excited electrons are generated.…”