Bifunctional single-crystalline rutile nanorod decorated heterostructural photoanodes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

A novel heterostructural TiO(2) nanocomposite, which consists of single-crystalline rutile TiO(2) nanorod decorated Degussa P25 nanoparticles, has been fabricated through a facile acidic hydrothermal method and successfully applied as the photoanodes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. The mor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP 2011-09, Vol.13 (35), p.15918-15924
Main Authors: Hao, Feng, Lin, Hong, Zhou, Chen, Liu, Yizhu, Li, Jianbao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemistry
Colloidal state and disperse state
Exact sciences and technology
General and physical chemistry
Nanocomposites
Nanomaterials
Nanostructure
Photovoltaic cells
Physical and chemical studies. Granulometry. Electrokinetic phenomena
Porous materials
Scanning electron microscopy
Single crystals
Solar cells
Surface physical chemistry
Titanium dioxide
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Summary:A novel heterostructural TiO(2) nanocomposite, which consists of single-crystalline rutile TiO(2) nanorod decorated Degussa P25 nanoparticles, has been fabricated through a facile acidic hydrothermal method and successfully applied as the photoanodes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. The morphology, crystal structure, specific surface area and pore size distribution of the obtained nanocomposite were systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), selected-area electron diffraction patterns (SAED) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements. Under standard illumination conditions (AM 1.5, 100 mW cm(-2)), devices with these hybrid anodes exhibited considerably enhanced photocurrent density and overall conversion efficiency in comparison with that of the commercial Degussa P25 electrodes, which can be partially attributed to the light scattering effect in the long-wavelength region as evidenced from the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) response and the diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. More importantly, devices employing these hybrid anodes have demonstrated extended electron lifetimes and larger electron diffusion coefficient as validated by the intensity-modulated photocurrent/photovoltage spectroscopy measurements, which can be mainly ascribed to the fast electron transport and collection superiority of the single-crystalline nanorods.
ISSN:1463-9076
1463-9084
DOI:10.1039/c1cp21833f