TiO₂ Nanorods Prepared from Anodic Aluminum Oxide Template and their Applications in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) was used as a template coupled with liquid process for synthesis of TiO2 nanorods. Immersion setting (IS) was carried out to insert a TiO2 precursor solution into AAO pore. With the calcination and NaOH treatment to remove AAO, SEM characterization revealed that TiO2 nanorods with diameter around 100-200 nm were successfully fabricated from AAO commercial templates. The synthesized nanorods mixed with commercial TiO2 nanoparticles (P-25) with a mixing ratio of 5:95 (by mass) were used as an electrode in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), The photoelectrodes made with nanorods showed a better performance than the cells used of only pristine TiO2 nanoparticles. The results from current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics of DSSCs showed that short-circuit current density (JSC), open-circuit voltage (VOC), fill factor (FF), and power conversion efficiency (PCE) are 11.78 mA/cm2, 0.72 V, 0.55, and 4.68%, respectively. Due to the effects of one-dimensional (1-D) nanostructure, the electron expressway concept was achieved in this research.

Nano-scale smooth surface of the compact-TiO2 layer via spray pyrolysis for controlling the grain size of the perovskite layer in perovskite solar cells

“…In planar PSCs, the morphology of the selected contacts and interfaces between the layers influences the entire cell performance, including the PCE. Numerous deposition processes exist for thin film c-TiO 2 , including dip- or spin-coating, 6 spray-pyrolysis, 7 the doctor blade method, 8 pulsed laser deposition (PLD), 6 magnetron sputtering, 7 electrochemical approaches, and atomic layer deposition (ALD). 9 Spray-pyrolysis is a low-cost, high-productivity process that permits uniform coating on a variety of substrate sizes and shapes.…”