The effects of anodization parameters on titania nanotube arrays and dye sensitized solarcells

Abstract

Ordered, closely packed, and vertically oriented titania nanotube arrays with lengths exceeding10 µm were fabricated by anodization of titanium foils. The effects of anodization voltage andtime on the microstructural morphology and the photovoltaic performance of dye sensitizedsolar cells based on the titania nanotube arrays were investigated. On increasing theanodization voltage or time, the increase in active surface area leads to enhancedphotovoltaic currents and thereby an overall higher performance of the dye sensitized solarcells. The efficiency enhancement with rising anodization voltage exceeds the increase inthe outer surface area of the nanotubes, indicating that the active surface area is furtherenlarged by a more accessible inner surface of the nanotube arrays grown with ahigher anodization voltage. A promising efficiency of 3.67% for dye sensitizedsolar cells based on anodized titania nanotube arrays was achieved under AM1.5,100 mW cm−2 illumination.