TY - JOUR
T1 - Hierarchically structured microspheres for high-efficiency rutile TiO 2-based dye-sensitized solar cells
AU - Ye, Meidan
AU - Zheng, Dajiang
AU - Wang, Mengye
AU - Chen, Chang
AU - Liao, Wenming
AU - Lin, Changjian
AU - Lin, Zhiqun
PY - 2014/2/26
Y1 - 2014/2/26
N2 - Peachlike rutile TiO2 microsphere films were successfully produced on transparent conducting fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate via a facile, one-pot chemical bath route at low temperature (T = 80-85 C) by introducing polyethylene glycol (PEG) as steric dispersant. The formation of TiO2 microspheres composed of nanoneedles was attributed to the acidic medium for the growth of 1D needle-shaped building blocks where the steric interaction of PEG reduced the aggregation of TiO2 nanoneedles and the Ostwald ripening process. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) assembled by employing these complex rutile TiO2 microspheres as photoanodes exhibited a light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 2.55%. It was further improved to a considerably high efficiency of 5.25% upon a series of post-treatments (i.e., calcination, TiCl4 treatment, and O 2 plasma exposure) as a direct consequence of the well-crystallized TiO2 for fast electron transport, the enhanced capacity of dye loading, the effective light scattering, and trapping from microstructures.
AB - Peachlike rutile TiO2 microsphere films were successfully produced on transparent conducting fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate via a facile, one-pot chemical bath route at low temperature (T = 80-85 C) by introducing polyethylene glycol (PEG) as steric dispersant. The formation of TiO2 microspheres composed of nanoneedles was attributed to the acidic medium for the growth of 1D needle-shaped building blocks where the steric interaction of PEG reduced the aggregation of TiO2 nanoneedles and the Ostwald ripening process. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) assembled by employing these complex rutile TiO2 microspheres as photoanodes exhibited a light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 2.55%. It was further improved to a considerably high efficiency of 5.25% upon a series of post-treatments (i.e., calcination, TiCl4 treatment, and O 2 plasma exposure) as a direct consequence of the well-crystallized TiO2 for fast electron transport, the enhanced capacity of dye loading, the effective light scattering, and trapping from microstructures.
KW - chemical bath method
KW - dye-sensitized solar cells
KW - light-to-electricity conversion efficiency
KW - low-temperature synthesis
KW - post-treatments
KW - rutile TiO microspheres
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84896896362&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/am405442n
DO - 10.1021/am405442n
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84896896362
SN - 1944-8244
VL - 6
SP - 2893
EP - 2901
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
IS - 4
ER -