Abstract
In the present work, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated by incorporating transparent electrodes of ordered free-standing TiO2 nanotube (TNT) arrays with both ends open transferred onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive glass. The high-quality TiO2 membranes used here were obtained by a self-detaching technique, with the superiorities of facile but reliable procedures. Afterwards, these TNT membranes can be easily transferred to FTO glass substrates by TiO2 nanoparticle paste without any crack. Compared with those DSSCs consisting of the bottom-closed membranes or attached to Ti substrate, the carefully assembled and front-side illuminated DSSCs showed an enhanced solar energy conversion efficiency as high as 5.32% of 24-μm-thick TiO2 nanotube membranes without further treatments. These results reveal that by facilitating high-quality membrane synthesis, this kind of DSSCs assembly with optimized tube configuration can have a fascinating future.
Highlights
The application of semiconductor TiO2 in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was extensively investigated for its low cost and high energy conversion efficiency
Lin et al introduced a transparent photoanode made of ordered opened-end TiO2 nanotube (TNT) arrays transferred onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass and observed an increase in efficiency than closed-end TNTs [22]
Four kinds of DSSCs were prepared for investigation: first, photoanode made of free-standing TNT membrane with both ends open transferred onto FTO glass (O-FTO); second, photoanode made of free-standing TNT membrane with the bottom ends closed transferred onto FTO glass (C-FTO); third, photoanode made of TiO2 nanoparticle (TNP) layer pasted on FTO by doctor blade technique (NP-FTO); and fourth, photoanode made of TNT arrays on Ti substrate (NT-Ti), with a film thickness of about 24 μm
Summary
The application of semiconductor TiO2 in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was extensively investigated for its low cost and high energy conversion efficiency. Free-standing nanotubes detached from Ti substrate and fixed onto the FTO glass is another approach to prepare photoanode of front-side illuminated DSSCs. Chen and Xu developed a two-step anodization process to fabricate large-area freestanding TiO2 nanotube arrays and transferred them onto FTO glass [20].
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