Synthesis of nano-TiO<sub>2</sub> assisted by diethylene glycol for use in high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells

doi:10.1016/j.cclet.2017.03.011

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Abstract The performance of dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs)consisting of anatase TiO₂ nanoparticles that were synthesized via a hydrothermal method was studied.The synthesized TiO₂ nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),nitrogen sorption analysis,scanning electron microscopy(SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM),and UV-vis spectroscopy.Then the J-V curve, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS),and open-circuit voltage decay(OCVD)measurement were applied to evaluate the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs.Compared with the commercial TiO₂ nanoparticles(P25),the synthesized-TiO₂ nanoparticles showed better performance.By adding diethylene glycol(DEG)before the hydrothermal process,the synthesized TiO₂ nanoparticles(hereafter referred to as TiO₂-DEG particles)shows narrower size distribution,larger specific surface area,higher crystallinity,and less surface defects than TiO₂(DEG free)particles.The analysis of photovoltaic properties of DSSCs based on TiO₂-DEG particles showed that the recombination of electron-hole pairs was decreased and the trapping of carries in grain boundaries restrained.It was believed that the photoelectrode fabricated with the as-prepared TiO₂ nanoparticles improved the loading amount of dye sensitizers(N719),and enhanced the photocurrent of the DSSCs.As a result,the TiO₂-DEG particle based cells achieved a photo-to-electricity conversion efficiency(η)of 7.90%,which is higher than 7.53% for the cell based on TiO₂(DEG free)and 6.59% for the one fabricated with P25.

Key words： Hydrothermal TiO₂ Diethylene glycol Photoelectrode Dye-sensitized solar cells

Received: 28 November 2016 Published: 10 March 2017

Fund:This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.21476162),and China International Science and Technology Project(Nos.2012DFG41980,S2016G3413).

Corresponding Authors: Bao Zhang, Ya-Qing Feng E-mail: baozhang@tju.edu.cn;yqfeng@tju.edu.cn

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http://www.chinchemlett.com.cn/EN/10.1016/j.cclet.2017.03.011 OR http://www.chinchemlett.com.cn/EN/Y2017/V28/I04/765

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