Nanostructural materials for dye-sensitized solar cells

The self-organized hollow TiO₂ hemisphere with a height of 130 nm and a diameter of 200 nm was formed. Highly ordered TiO₂ nanotube arrays of 200-nm pore diameter and 700-nm length were grown perpendicular to a FTO substrate by infiltrating the alumina pores with Ti(OC₃H₇)₄ which was subsequently converted into anatase TiO₂. The structure was treated with TiCl₄ to enhance the photogenerated current and then integrated into the DSSC using a commercially available ruthenium-based dye. The dye-sensitized solar cell using self-organized hollow TiO₂ hemispheres under porous alumina with TiO₂ nanotubes inside as the working electrode generated a photocurrent of 5.00 mA/cm², an open-circuit voltage of 0.58 V and yielding a power conversion efficiency 1.77 times the conventional nanoparticle-based DSSC.