Atomic layer deposition of TiO2 on mesoporous nanoITO: conductive core-shell photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells.

Abstract

Core-shell structures consisting of thin shells of conformal TiO2 deposited on high surface area, conductive Sn-doped In2O3 nanoparticle. Mesoscopic films were synthesized by atomic layer deposition and studied for application in dye-sensitized solar cells. Results obtained with the N719 dye show that short-circuit current densities, open-circuit voltages, and back electron transfer lifetimes all increased with increasing TiO2 shell thickness up to 1.8-2.4 nm and then decline as the thickness was increased further. At higher shell thicknesses, back electron transfer to -Ru(III) is increasingly competitive with transport to the nanoITO core resulting in decreased device efficiencies.