TiO2 nanotube arrays and TiO2-nanotube-array based dye-sensitized solar cell

To substitute the non-regular nano-crystalline semiconductor for a novel kind of ordered microstructure is a very important aspect in the domain of dye-sensitized solar cell. One of the researching hot- spots is the highly-ordered TiO2 nanotube architecture. As a new type of titania nano-material, titania nanotube arrays have drawn extraordinary attention due to its distinctive morphology, notable photo-electrical and hydro-sensitive performance. At 100% sun the new kind of TiO2 nanotube arrays solar cell exhibits an overall conversion efficiency of 5.44%. This paper introduces the preparation methods of titania nanotube arrays, the existing problems and recent progress in titania nanotube arrays solar cell.     

High conversion efficiency of pristine TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanotube arrays based dye-sensitized solar cells

We prepared highly-ordered titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TNAs) by anodizing Ti foils in F-containing electrolytes.The crystalline nature and morphology of the TNAs were studied using X-ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscopy.We found the morphology of TNAs affects the light-to-electricity conversion efficiency (η) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).The efficiency of DSSCs reached 5.95% under the condition of light illuminated from the counter electrode.The high efficiency of TNA-based DSSCs was attributed to the neat top surface of TNAs,which allows more dye molecule loading on the surface of the TiO 2 nanotubes,and fewer electron recombination centers and a low interface resistance of integrated TNAs.     

Preparation of porous nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode by screen-printing technique

Different paste has been used for preparing porous TiO2 thin film by screen-printing technique, the main component of it comes from commercial TiO2 P25 power. The dye-sensitized solar cell based on this TiO2 thin film without further chemical treatments exhibits high overall conversion efficiency of 5.81%―6.70%, even with low TiO2 content and thin film thickness. The experimental repeatability is nice and the properties of the films are uniform.     

Nanocrystalline TiO2 thin film electrodes prepared by common pressure hydrothermal method at low temperature

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on nanocrys- talline TiO2 thin film electrodes have been widely investi- gated since they were invented by Gr?tzel et al. in 1991[1-3]. Nanocrystalline TiO2 thin film electrodes are usually pre- pared by coating TiO2 colloid with organic additives on conductive glass substrates and annealing at 400-450℃ to remove organic additives and achieve good electrical contact between TiO2 particles and between TiO2 particles and conductive substrates, which…     

Preparation of nano-crystal N-Zn/TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> anode films and the effects of co-sensitization on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells

A nano-crystal N-Zn/TiO₂ anode film was prepared using a combined technology. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry characterizations showed that the two elements N and Zn were doped into nano-crystal TiO₂ successfully. This resulted in a strong redshift in the UV-Visible spectrum. UV-Visible measurements showed that the light absorption of N719 and P3OT were complementary and covered the entire visible region. This led to a high utilization of visible light. Solar cells based on the N-Zn/TiO₂ anode film were co-sensitized using P3OT and N719. The cells have a short-circuit current density of 7.91 mA/cm², an open-circuit photovoltage of 0.659 V, and a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 2.64%. Also, the relationship among the N-Zn/TiO₂-film anode’s electric structure, the dye’s LUMO, electrochemical impedance, and photoelectric conversion efficiency are discussed in the paper.     

Photo-induced degradation of Ru（Ⅱ） complex absorbed on anatase TiO2 thin film electrode

Photo-induced degradation of a monolayer of Ru（Ⅱ） complex absorbed on anatase TiO2 thin film was studied by using resonant micro-Raman spectroscopy. Under intense light radiation of a laser and in the absence of a reducing agent, the dye decomposed quickly. When the dye-sensitized TiO2 thin film electrode was covered by a reducing agent, namely the I^-/I3^- redox couple, the photo-induced decomposing rate was slowed by a factor of -10^6. In both cases, the dye decomposed with time under an exponential law.     

Comparison between P25 and anatase-based TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> quasi-solid state dye sensitized solar cells

Pure anatase TiO2 films have been made via hydration of titanium isopropoxide using a sol-gel tech-nique, while mixed TiO2 films which contained both anatase and rutile TiO2 were made from commercial P25 powder. Quasi-solid state dye-sensitized solar cells were fabricated with these two kinds of mesoporous films and a comparison study was carried out. The result showed that the open-circuit photovoltages （Voc） for both kinds of cells were essentially the same, whereas the short-circuit photo-currents （1sc） of the anatase-based cells were about 33% higher than that of the P25-based cells. The highest photocurrent intensity of the anatase-based cell was 6.12 mA/cm^2 and that of the P25-based cell was 4.60 mA/cm^2. Under an illumination with the light intensity of 30 mW/cm^2, the corresponding energy conversion efficiency was measured to be 7.07% and 6.89% for anatase-based cells and P25-based cells, respectively.     

Preparation of Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode and its application in pentachlorophenol photoelectrocatalytic degradation

Zn-doped titanium oxide （TiO2） nanotubes electrode was prepared on a titanium plate by direct anodic oxidation and immersing method in sequence. Field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM） showed that the Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes were well aligned and organized into high density uniform arrays with diameter ranging from 50 to 90 nm. The length and the thickness were about 200 and 15 nm respectively. TiO2 anatase phase was identified by X-ray diffraction （XRD）. X-ray photoelectronspectroscopy （XPS） indicated that Zn ions were mainly located on the surface of TiO2 nanotubes in form of ZnO clusters. Compared with TiO2 nanotubes electrode, about 20 nm red shift in the spectrum of UV-vis absorption was observed. The degradation of pentachlorophenol （PCP） in aqueous solution under the same condition （initial concentration of PCP： 20 mg/L; concentration of Na2SO4：0.01 mol/L and pH： 7.03） was carried out using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode and TiO2 nanotubes electrode. The degradation rates of PCP using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode were found to be twice and 5.8 times as high as that using TiO2 nanotubes electrode by UV radiation （400 μw/cm^2） and visible light radiation （4500 μw/cm^2）, respectively. 73.5% of PCP was removed using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode against 45.5% removed using TiO2 nanotubes electrode in 120 min under UV radiation. While under visible light radiation, the degradation efficiency of PCP was 18.4% using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode against 3.2% using TiO2 nanotubes electrode in 120 min. The optimum concentration of Zn doping was found to be 0.909%. The PCP degradation efficiencies of the 10 repeated experiments by Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode were rather stable with the deviation within 3.0%.     

CuInS2／石墨烯混合物的合成及其在太阳能电池中的应用

在不同的溶剂中通过温和的溶剂热法,成功地合成 CuInS2纳米晶体。这些合成好的 CuInS2粉末被 X光衍射表征后,又作为对电极被组装成染料敏化太阳能电池。通过检测可以发现乙二醇是合成 CuInS2过程中最佳的溶液。这主要表现在用乙二醇合成的 CuInS2作为电池对电极时的转化率可以达到5·49％,这个值要比用其他溶液合成的 CuInS2转化率高。然后,将在乙二醇溶剂中合成的 CuInS2粉末与石墨烯的氧化物混合形成 CuInS2纳米晶体／石墨烯纳米复合材料,这种材料可以提高 CuInS2在染料敏化太阳能电池方面的性能。通过透射电子显微镜法,可以证明 CuInS2生长在石墨烯纳米网中。与传统的铂对电极电池（6·90％）相比,这种纳米复合材料具有相对较好的光电转化率（6·28％）。     

TiO_2纳米管制备及其在染料敏化太阳能电池中的应用

采用强碱水热法由钛粉和NaOH溶液水热反应合成二氧化钛纳米管,并用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X-射线电子衍射(XRD)等表征手段对反应产物进行表征,该方法制备的二氧化钛纳米管长度为200～300 nm,管径为20～25 nm.采用丝网印刷技术将二氧化钛纳米管粉末印制在掺杂氟的SnO2导电玻璃(FTO)上,并进行热处理.随后,将印制了薄膜的FTO导电玻璃浸泡在染料中,浸泡一段时间后,将其与导电面涂了铂的FTO导电玻璃组装成染料敏化太阳能电池,并对电池性能进行测试.在模拟太阳光照射下,该电池的填充因子为0.43,短路电流为0.48 mA,断路电压为0.35 V,光电转换效率为0.07%.     

大面积染料敏化太阳能电池的结构组件设计与性能测试

介绍了大面积染料敏化太阳能电池（DSC）的制备和设计思路,探讨了电阻对大面积染料敏化太阳电池光伏特性的影响,给出了解决这一问题的途径,并进行了内部串联（DSC）与内部并联（DSC）两种组件的性能测试。     

ZnO microsheet modified TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticle composite films for dye-sensitized solar cells

Randomly oriented ZnO microsheets were successfully self-assembled on TiO₂ nanoparticle (TN) film to act as the scattering layer via a cathodic electrodeposition process. The light scattering properties of ZnO microsheets were studied by UV-Vis spectrometer in the 400–800 nm wavelength range. It was found that ZnO microsheets exhibited excellent ability to scatter the incident light for ZnO microsheet-TiO₂ nanoparticle (ZT) composite films. The results showed that dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) fabricated with ZT composite films showed higher short-circuit density (J_sc) and conversion efficiency than TN-based DSSCs, due to the light scattering properties of ZnO microsheets.     

二氧化钛纳米管复合薄膜电极制备及其在染料敏化太阳能电池中的应用

采用强碱水热法合成二氧化钛纳米管,并与二氧化钛纳米颗粒混合作为染料敏化太阳能电池电极材料.当纳米管与纳米颗粒按照1:1摩尔比混合时,经过500℃烧结1h后,转化成锐钛矿晶型;平均孔体积0.30 cm3/g,平均孔径11.42 nm,比表面积为105.58 m2/g;电极对染料的吸附量达到4.85×10-8mol/cm2;电池的短路光电流密度8.70 mA/cm2,开路光电压0.76 V,填充因子0.60,光电转化效率3.96%.     

Preparation and performance of dye-sensitized solar cells based on ZnO-modified TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> electrodes

The ZnO-modified TiO₂ electrode was prepared by adding Zn(CH₃COO)₂·2H₂O to the TiO₂ colloid during the sol-gel production process, and was used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The open circuit voltage (V _OC) and fill factor (ff) of the cells were improved significantly. The performances of the ZnO-modified TiO₂ electrode such as dark current, transient photocurrent, impedance, absorption spectra, and flat band potential (V _fb) were investigated. It is found that the interface charge recombination impedance increases and V _fb shifts about 200 mV toward the cathodic potential. The effect mechanism of ZnO modification on the performance of DSCs may be that ZnO occupies the surface states of the TiO₂ film.     

A review of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticles

Climate change and the consumption of non-renewable resources are considered as the greatest problems facing humankind.Because of this,photocatalysis research has been rapidly expanding.TiO2 nanoparticles have been extensively investigated for photocatalytic applications including the decomposition of organic compounds and production of H2 as a fuel using solar energy. This article reviews the structure and electronic properties of TiO2,compares TiO2 with other common semiconductors used for photocatalytic applications and clarifies the advantages of using TiO2 nanoparticles.TiO2 is considered close to an ideal semi- conductor for photocatalysis but possesses certain limitations such as poor absorption of visible radiation and rapid recombination of photogenerated electron/hole pairs.In this review article,various methods used to enhance the photocatalytic characteristics of TiO2 including dye sensitization,doping,coupling and capping are discussed.Environmental and energy applications of TiO2, including photocatalytic treatment of wastewater,pesticide degradation and water splitting to produce hydrogen have been summarized.     

Blue TiO2 polymorph: An efficient material for dye-sensitized solar cells fabricated using a low-temperature sintering process

Recently,surface-disordered or non-stoichiometric TiO_2,such as blue TiO_2(B-TiO_2),has received much attention owing to its unique properties,such as structural disorder near the surface and the existence of Ti~(3+)ions and oxygen vacancies.Therefore,surface-disordered TiO_2has been applied for microwave absorption,photocatalysis,in photoelectrochemical sensors and rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.In this work B-TiO_2,a polymorph consisting of nanoparticles,nanotubes and nanosheets,was successfully synthesized and employed as a semiconductor layer in dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs)fabricated using a low-temperature heat treatment process(120°C).Based on the analyses of the experimental results regarding the structure and those from the characterization of B-TiO_2,and its application to DSSCs,it has been found that the B-TiO_2 material has an effect on electron-hole pair separation.The conversion efficiency of the B-TiO_2 DSSC(BTiO_2-DSSC)was 6.18%,whereas that of the TiO_2-P25 DSSC(P25-DSSC)was 3.61%,and that of the TiO_2 polymorph DSSC(PTiO_2-DSSC)which is the precursor of B-TiO_2 was 4.51%.     

Preparation of photoanode and its application to flexible dye-sensitized solar cells

A TiO2 slurry was prepared by hydrothermal treating mixture of commercial TiO2 (P25),ethanol and distilled water in an autoclave.A flexible photoanode and dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was fabricated on an ITO-coated poly (ethylene naphthalate) sheet (ITO/PEN) substrate by a doctor-blade technique.The sample was characterized with SEM,UV-vis,FTIR,and the photoelectric properties of the DSSC were measured.The influence of preparation conditions on the properties of the flexible DSSC was investigated.It is...     

Mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of dye MG by TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-film electrode with cathodic bias potential

Photoelectrocatalytic degradation of malachite green (MG) under visible light irradiation with TiO2-film electrode has been investigated to reveal the mechanism for TiO2 photocatalytic degradation of dyes. The supported TiO2 electrode was prepared in laboratory and detected by scanning electron micros-copy and X-ray diffractometry. We have examined the degradation kinetics, change in degradation rate of MG and photocurrent change with the bias potential, voltage-induced adsorption of dyes, accumu-lation of ...     

Synthesis and characterization of monoclinic TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanosheets

A novel two-step method for the synthesis of monoclinic titanium oxide （i.e. TiO2（B）） nanosheets is presented in this report. The method is featured by two steps： 1） synthesis of hydrogen titanate nanosheets, followed by 2） calcination of the titanate nanosheets at elevated temperatures. The hydrogen titanate nanosheets were prepared first by autoclaving anatase TiO2 powders, obtained by air cal- cining an ethanol-gel of Ti（OH）4 at 500℃, in aqueous NaOH （10 mol/L） at 150-200℃, and then by washing with hydro- chloric acid under supersonic irradiation. While sizes of the nanosheets were found to increase with increasing the temperature of the hydrothermal treatment, the calcination at 400-500℃ of the hydrogen titanate nanosheets that were synthesized at higher autoclaving temperatures （180-200℃） produced monoclinic TiO2 nanosheets with a uniform morphology. By contrast, the same calcination of the titanate nanosheets synthesized at the autoclaving temperature 180℃ led to anatase TiO2 nanoparticles.     

Catalysis of organic pollutant photodegradation by metal phthalocyanines immobilized on TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>@SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

A TiO2@SiO2 hybrid support was prepared by the sol-precipitation method using n-octylamine as a template.The photocatalyst manganese phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid (MnPcS) was immobilized on the support to form MnPcS-TiO2@SiO2.X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-Vis DRS) were employed to characterize the catalyst.The photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and the catalytic oxidation of o-phenylenediamine (OPDA) under visible light irradiation were used as probe reactions.The mineralization efficiency and the degradation mechanism were evaluated using chemical oxygen demand (COD Cr) assays and electron spin resonance (ESR),respectively.RhB was efficiently degraded by immobilized MnPcS-TiO2@SiO2 under visible light irradiation.Complete decolorization of RhB occurred after 240 min of irradiation and 64.02% COD Cr removal occurred after 24 h of irradiation.ESR results indicated that the oxidation process was dominated by the hydroxyl radical (·OH) and superoxide radical (O-·2) generated in the system.