Abstract
In this paper, we overview the recent progress we made in the magnetron sputtering-based developments of nano-sculpted thin films intended for energy-related applications such as energy conversion. This paper summarizes our recent experimental work often supported by simulation and theoretical results. Specifically, the development of a new generation of nano-sculpted photo-anodes based on TiO2 for application in dye-sensitized solar cells is discussed.
Highlights
In addition to more conventional features such as the thickness, chemical composition, or phase constitution, the control of the morphology at the submicrometer scale and the associated porosity is accepted as an essential parameter, allowing the properties of thin films to be tailored
[1] The main interest toward nano-sculpted films mainly arises from their high surface-to-volume ratio, allowing for an important developed surface that can be used as examples to accommodate a large quantity of molecules or to strongly increase the active sites
Ti and Mg were chosen as model materials because their growth mechanism is expected to be different according to the structure zone model (SZM) of vacuum-deposited materials published by Movchan and Demchishin [48] This model describes the morphologies of the deposited films according to the homologous temperature Ts/Tm, where Ts is the substrate temperature and Tm is the melting point of the deposited material
Summary
In addition to more conventional features such as the thickness, chemical composition, or phase constitution, the control of the morphology at the submicrometer scale and the associated porosity is accepted as an essential parameter, allowing the properties of thin films to be tailored. Addressing the domain of solar energy harvesting, one of the most frequent nano-sculpted film architectures is based on fritted nanoparticles thin films [2] Such a structure, which is the one used nowadays in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as an example, often presents a very high specific surface area and very good porosity, which is crucial to improving the dye absorption in the mentioned application. Kuang et al established a systematical strategy to grow TiO2 hierarchical nanostructures made of nanowires (NW) on which nanorods (NR) are branched, themselves being sources of nanorods (NR), labeled as NW/NR/NR These hierarchical structures have been utilized in solar cell applications, allowing for a conversion efficiency of up to 9% due to a larger specific surface area, lower transport time, and longer electron lifetime than TiO2 nanoparticles [10]. They concluded that the design of 1D hierarchical nanostructure thin films is one of the keys to find the best agreement between a high carriers’ reservoir capability and good charge transport properties in DSSCs
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