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Pure Appl. Chem., 2013, Vol. 85, No. 2, pp. 417-425

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-CON-12-06-06

Published online 2012-11-17

Facile solvothermal synthesis of single‑crystalline anatase nanorods for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

Xiao Wang1, Feng Hao1, Huiyuan Chen2, Gang Wang2, Jianbao Li1 and Hong Lin1*

1 State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
2 Collage of Chemical Engineering, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai 810016, China

Abstract: Single-crystalline anatase TiO2 nanorods (TiO2-SANRs) were synthesized through a facile solvothermal method and successfully applied as the photoanodes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The prepared samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The power conversion efficiencies of TiO2-SANRs decorated Degussa P25 nanoparticle solar cells increased by 13.5 % compared with commercial Degussa P25 TiO2 solar cells under standard illumination conditions (AM 1.5G, 100 mW/cm–2). The improved performance of the TiO2-SANRs decorated Degussa P25 nanoparticle solar cells was primarily ascribed to the enhanced short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc) despite a declined dye-loading capacity. The light-scattering effect in the long-wavelength region, as evidenced from the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) response and the diffuse reflectance spectroscopy was recognized as the main reason for the photocurrent enrichment.