Synthesis of SnO2 hollow fiber using kapok biotemplate for application in dye-sensitized solar cells

The SnO2-hollow fibers (SnO2-HF) are prepared by a simple impregnation method using kapok as a biotemplate. This synthesis method provides a new facile route for the fabrication of hollow SnO2 fibers. For comparison, the plate shape SnO2 nanoparticles (SnO2-NP) were prepared by hydrothermal reaction. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) were used to investigate the crystalline structure and morphology of as-prepared SnO2-HF and SnO2-NP. SnO2-HF and SnO2-NP were applied as additives in the TiO2 photoelectrode in order to retard the electron recombination of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The addition of SnO2 in the DSSCs led to the longest recombination time and the electrochemical properties were increased. The solar conversion efficiency of DSSC containing additional SnO2-HF in the TiO2-NP photoelectrode is 5.43% and compared with the TiO2-NP photoelectrode based DSSCs (with a eta of 4.89%), the SnO2-HF based DSSCs improved approximately 11.00%. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.