Facile route to prepare film of poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene)-TiO2 nanohybrid for solar cell application

Composite using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as electronic conducting polymer and nanocrystalline titanium dioxide (TiO2) as host matrix were prepared by the template method. We applied an original in situ photopolymerization technique to synthesize PEDOT inside the TiO2 pore and characterized the polymer and pore filling by different analysis (cyclic voltammetry, atomic force microscopy, spectroscopy and thermogravimetric measurements). Results were compared with those obtained on PEDOT films synthezised by monomer oxidization in the presence of FeCl3. In situ generation of PEDOT by photopolymerization was observed to be higher and self-limiting after 22% filling of the mesoporous TiO2 network. Hybrid materials were used to fabricate an indium-tin oxide/nano-crystalline TiO2/PEDOT/Au device. The current-voltage characteristics indicate that a built-in electrical field has been created at the nano-crystalline TiO2/PEDOT interface with energy conversion efficiency of 0.09% without dye. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.