We report a very simple and novel approach to produce anodic TiO2 nanotube arrays with highly defined and ordered tube openings. It is based on carrying out anodization through a slowly soluble photoresist coating. This eliminates the formation of undesired initiation layers on the tube tops and protects them to a certain extent from etching by the electrolyte.
We present a computational study based on time‐dependent density functional theory of the optical absorption spectra of TiO2 nanowires sensitized with organic dye molecules. We concentrate on catechol and squaraine dyes. For those molecules, we compute adsorption geometries and energies and investigate the optical properties of the combined dye– nanowire system. We find that although the molecules have qualitatively different optical spectra in the gas phase, both lead to an enhancement of the absorption in the visible frequency range when adsorbed on a nanowire.
An inverted structure of polymer solar cells based on Poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT):[6-6] Phenyl-(6) butyric acid methyl ester(PCBM) with using thin films of TiO_2 nanotubes and nanoparticles as an efficient cathode buffer layer is developed. A total of three cells employing TiO_2 thin films with different thickness values are fabricated. Two cells use layers of TiO_2 nanotubes prepared via self-organized electrochemical-anodizing leading to thickness values of 203 and 423.7 nm, while the other cell uses only a simple sol–gel synthesized TiO_2 thin film of nanoparticles with a thickness of 100 nm as electron transport layer. Experimental results demonstrate that TiO_2 nanotubes with these thickness values are inefficient as the power conversion efficiency of the cell using 100-nm TiO_2 thin film is 1.55%, which is more than the best power conversion efficiency of other cells. This can be a result of the weakness of the electrochemical anodizing method to grow nanotubes with lower thickness values. In fact as the TiO_2 nanotubes grow in length the series resistance(Rs) between the active polymer layer and electron transport layer increases, meanwhile the fill factor of cells falls dramatically which finally downgrades the power conversion efficiency of the cells as the fill factor falls. 相似文献
In this research TiO2 nanocrystals with sizes about 11–70 nm were grown by hydrothermal method. The process was performed in basic autoclaving pH in the range of 8.0–12.0. The synthesized anatase phase TiO2 nanocrystals were then applied in the phtoanode of the dye sensitized solar cells. It was shown that the final average size of the nanocrystals was larger when the growth was carried out in higher autoclaving pHs. The photoanodes made of TiO2 nanocrystals prepared in the pHs of 8.0 and 9.0 represented low amounts of dye adsorption and light scattering. The performance of the corresponding dye sensitized solar cells was also not acceptable. Nevertheless, the energy conversion efficiency was better for the state of pH of 9.0. For the photoanodes made of TiO2 nanocrystals prepared at autoclaving pH of 10.0, the dye adsorption and light scattering were quite higher. The photovoltaic characteristics of the best cell in this state were 15.25 mA/cm2, 740 mV, 0.6 and 6.8% for the short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, fill factor and efficiency, respectively. The photoanodes composed of TiO2 nanocrystals prepared in autoclaving pHs of 11.0 and 12.0 demonstrated lower amount of dye adsorption and higher light scattering. This was quite considerable for the state of pH of 12.0. The energy conversion efficiencies were consequently decreased compared to that of the pH of 10.0. The optimum situation was finally discussed based on the nanocrystals size and its influence on the sensitization and light harvesting efficiency. 相似文献
TiO2 films with ordered porous structure were prepared by freezing. By simply freezing wet TiO2 film on a cold copper plate, ice crystals could grow from bottom of film. Removing such ice crystals then led to ordered, micro-sized pores in the films. With assistance of scanning electron microscopy and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, micro-structural properties of the films were studied. Coarsening behavior of ice crystals was analyzed based on evolvement of the micro-structure. It was found that, both larger film thickness and longer freezing time were beneficial for the formation of ordered porous structure, which was caused by enhanced ice crystals growth. The films were then used to fabricate photoanode of dye sensitized solar cells, of which the photo-to-electric power conversion efficiency was evaluated. It was observed that, solar cell made of ordered porous TiO2 film came out with 13% larger photo-current density comparing to that made of conventional doctor blading method, which is due to the enhanced light scattering by the ordered porous structure. 相似文献
We demonstrate here a simple but very effective approach to decorate anodically grown TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) uniformly with CdS and PbS quantum dots (QDs) deep inside the NT walls. This approach is based on SILAR (successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction) technique assisted with evacuation of the NTs. The basic idea of evacuation is to remove air pockets trapped inside the NTs so as to clear the passage for the penetration of QD precursors down the bottom of the NTs.
The application of TiO2-based devices is mainly dependent on their crystalline structure,morphology,size,and exposed facets.Two kinds of TiO2 with different structures,namely TiO2 pompons and TiO2 nanotubes,have been prepared by the hydrothermal method.TiO2 with different structures is characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD),and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET) surface area analysis.Solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT) and TiO2 with different structures are fabricated.In the device ITO/TiO2/P3HT/Au,the P3HT is designed to act as the electron donor,and TiO2 pompons and TiO2 nanotubes act as the electron acceptor.The effects of the TiO2 structure on the performance of hybrid heterojunction solar cells are investigated.The device with TiO2 pompons has an open circuit voltage(Voc) of 0.51 V,a short circuit current(Jsc) of 0.21 mA/cm2,and a fill factor(FF) of 28.3%.Another device with TiO2 nanotubes has a V oc of 0.5 V,J sc of 0.27mA/cm2,and FF of 28.4%.The results indicate that the TiO2 nanotubes with a unidimensional structure have better carrier transport and light absorption properties than TiO 2 pompons.Consequently,the solar cell based on TiO2 nanotubes has a better performance. 相似文献
In this work, PbICl precursor solution in N,N-dimethylformamide was successfully applied to deposit PbS quantum-dots on TiO2 nanorod arrays by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method (SILAR). The influence of PbI2, PbBr2, PbICl precursor solution on the morphology, crystal size and optical absorption of PbS quantum-dots was investigated and the photovoltaic performance of the corresponding solid-state PbS quantum-dot sensitized TiO2 nanorod array solar cells with spiro-OMeTAD was evaluated. The average crystal sizes of PbS quantum-dots were 9.0 nm of PbI2, 8.6 nm of PbBr2 and 8.4 nm of PbICl and the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the corresponding solar cells achieved 2.63%, 3.00%, 3.45%. The result revealed that PbICl precursor solution was superior to PbBr2 and PbI2. 相似文献