Facile synthesis of mesoporous TiO2 nanospheres by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and its applications in dye sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Mesoporous TiO2 nanospheres were successfully synthesized by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The synthesized materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption and desorption isotherm, field emission scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The powder X-ray diffraction pattern shows that the material has mixture of anatase and brookite phase. The nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherm shows that the material has surface area of 87 m2 g−1. The average pore size distribution analysis shows that the material has pore size of 11.2 nm. The morphology studies show that the synthesized TiO2 material has sphere morphology. The power conversion efficiency of TiO2 nanosphere based DSSC was 7.2% and commercial P25 material based DSSC was 4.1%. The mesoporous TiO2 nanosphere structure is good candidate for the dye sensitized solar cells application.