Photoelectrochemical cells based on nanocrystalline TiO2 synthesized by high temperature hydrolysis of ammonium dihydroxodilactatotitanate(IV)

Abstract

Photoelectric parameters of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) based on nanocrystaline titanium dioxide synthesized by several methods are studied. The lifetime of charge carriers (electrons) is shown to be 10 ms for DSSC with anodes of TiO2 synthesized by hydrolysis of ammonium dihydroxodilactatotitanate(IV) (DLTA) and about 7 ms for anodes of commercial titanium dioxide (AEROXIDE®, TiO2, P 25, Evonik), which points to the lower recombination losses for anodes of DLTA. The transition times for both cell versions are close to one another and equal to 10 ms; under these conditions, the diffusion coefficient of electrons is assessed to be ca. 10−5 cm2 s−1. The comparable transition times and lifetimes of electrons in DSSCs under study suggest that a part of photogenerated electrons is lost at the diffusion to the conducting substrate.