Interfacial confined formation of mesoporous spherical TiO2 nanostructures with improved photoelectric conversion efficiency

Abstract

Uniform mesoporous TiO(2) nanospheres were successfully developed via an interfacial confined formation process for application in dye-sensitized solar cells. The mesoporous spherical structures greatly promote the dye-loading capacity, electron transfer, and light scattering, resulting in remarkable enhancement of the cell performance. The designed interfacial platform caused a reaction-limited aggregation of the TiO(2) nanocrystals, resulting in the formation of mesoporous spherical nanostructures with sphere diameter of 216 nm and pore size of 8 nm. The oriented attachment of adjacent TiO(2) nanocrystals facilitated the electron transfer process when the mesoporous TiO(2) nanospheres were used as electrode films. The dye coverage was enhanced remarkably in the mesoporous spherical TiO(2) samples. Owing to the enhanced light-harvesting efficiency, solar conversion efficiency was enhanced about 30% for the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on mesoporous spherical TiO(2) in comparison with that made by commercial TiO(2) nanoparticles.