Abstract
This work focuses on the sol-gel spin coating technique of TiO2 nanostructure synthesis and its characterization. Though various methods have been used to fabricate TiO2 nanostructure, much effort has not been exerted to achieve better photoresponsive and narrowly dispersed TiO2 nanostructure using the sol-gel spin coating method. Therefore, it is imperative to realize the synthesis of TiO2 nanostructures, and investigate their properties. In this work, TiO2 is synthesized by sol-gel spin coating technique using titanium tetraisopropoxide, isopropanol, acetic acid and deionized water as starting materials and deposited on borosilicate glass substrates. The effects of annealing temperatures (300˚C, 400˚C and 500˚C) on the structural and optical properties of the films were investigated by different techniques: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), optical microscopy and UV-visible spectrophotometry. The optical characterization showed the direct band gap at 3.7 eV, 3.6 eV and 3.4 eV for 300˚C, 400˚C and 500˚C, respectively, and the optical transmittance and reflectance spectra showed a greater performance at 500˚C. The grain sizes obtained from SEM annealed at 300˚C, 400˚C and 500˚C are found to be about 6.0 nm, 5.0 nm and 4.0 nm respectively. The grain size of TiO2 nanostructure films decreased with increasing annealing temperatures. The results clearly indicated that the sol-gel spin coating synthesis of TiO2 nanostructure and post-thermal treatment at 500˚C cooled naturally at room temperature result in better photoresponsive and narrowly dispersed TiO2 nanostructure films with higher photoresponsive and good optical properties.
Highlights
TiO2 nanostructure films fabricated by sol-gel spin coating have excellent optical properties suitable for application in solid-state photovoltaic solar cells
The results clearly indicated that the sol-gel spin coating synthesis of TiO2 nanostructure and post-thermal treatment at 500 ̊C cooled naturally at room temperature result in better photoresponsive and narrowly dispersed TiO2 nanostructure films with higher photoresponsive and good optical properties
Smaller grain sizes were observed at elevated temperature
Summary
TiO2 nanostructure films fabricated by sol-gel spin coating have excellent optical properties suitable for application in solid-state photovoltaic solar cells. Optical characteristics of TiO2 films under visible light though are very weak but they strongly depends on preparation methods. The development of new and optimized photoresponsive TiO2 nanostructure for the existing optical properties exhibiting activity upon visible light with surface characteristics of improved performance, and of the high chemical and physical stability are crucial for broader scale utilization of photovoltaic systems in commercial applications. By careful control of relative proportion of fixed precursor materials/solvent weight ratio of 1:3 and pH = 9.5 with nitric acid, in order to obtain a stable and clear sol of TiO2 colloidal suspension in the nanometer range, which was dispersed on the surface of the thoroughly cleaned borosilicate glass substrates, and spun at 4000 rev/min for 30 seconds under suction
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