Preparation of TiO2 nanocrystalline films controlled by acetylacetone/polyethylene glycol and their photoelectric properties

TiO₂ nanocrystalline films were prepared from titanium tetra-n-butoxide modified with double hydrolysis inhibitors, acetylacetone and polyethylene glycol (PEG), in mixture of methanol and ethanol. The correlation among surface structure of the TiO₂ films, preparation conditions, and photovoltaic properties of the solar cells using the TiO₂ films was investigated. The particle size of the obtained TiO₂ films was decreased as the PEG content increased. The nanostructured films with the narrow distribution of particle size could be prepared. The amounts of adsorbed dyes for these TiO₂ films were larger than that without PEG. The performance of the solar cell fabricated using the TiO₂ film improved as the amount of the PEG increased, and the solar cell using the TiO₂ film prepared from the solution with 30 wt% PEG exhibited the highest performance.