Dye-sensitized solar cells using TiO2 nanoparticles transformed from nanotube arrays

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using TiO2 mesoporous layers obtained by very simple method-transformation of TiO2 nanotube (NT) films grown by electrochemical oxidation to nanoparticle (NP) films. This transformation is based on thermal annealing of TiO2 NT arrays formed by anodization of titanium foil in fluorine ambient. Performance of DSSCs fabricated with different size NPs was studied in the range from 35 to 350 nm. Highest nominal efficiency (9.05%) was achieved for DSSC with NP size 65 nm while the lowest nominal efficiency (1.48%) was observed for DSSCs with NP size 350 nm. The dependence of the solar cell parameters with NP size is discussed.