Journal
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
Volume 509, Issue 41, Pages 10121-10126Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA
DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2011.08.055
Keywords
Peroxotitanium acid; Compact film; Gradient layer; Dye-sensitized solar cell; Titania
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Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [50772127]
- Cultivation Fund of the Key Scientific and Technical Innovation Project [708039]
- Chinese Universities Scientific Fund
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Transparent and surfactant-free TiO2 sols containing anatase nanocrystals were prepared by the hydrothermal treatment of water-soluble peroxotitanium acid (PTA) at a temperature of 120 degrees C. The TiO2 nanocrystals were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The TEM results indicated that the TiO2 nanocrystals were nanorod-like with diameters of less than 7 nm after the subsequently hydrothermal treatment. A gradient layer between the transparent fluorine doped SnO2 (FTO) layer and the porous titanium dioxide nanocrystalline film for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) photoelectrodes, was made with the as-prepared TiO2 sols. The TiO2 gradient layers were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and UV-vis absorption spectrometry. After the gradient layer deposition on the FTO coated glass, the composite multilayer film exhibited the visible light transmittance of 80% which approached to that of bare FTO glass. The photo-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of the N719 dye-sensitized solar cell had significantly improved from 4.2% to 5.6% in the presence of the compact layer between FTO and the porous TiO2 nanocrystalline film under of AM1.5 illumination (100 mW/cm(2)). The remarkable improvements in short-circuit current for the DSSCs was due to the effective gradient layer at the FTO-TiO2 interface which prevented direct contact of electrolytes with FTO and consequently reduced charge recombination losses. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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