A novel simplified approach in fabricating TiO2 photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

Globally, the hydrothermal method is widely adopted in synthesizing TiO2 photoanodes for various applications, including dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Nonetheless, this method typically involves several synthesis steps, and most reported works were intricate and complex to follow. In this work, a reinvented novel methodology for hydrothermal synthesis was successfully developed. The mixed-phase of anatase-rutile TiO2 photoanodes was demonstrated by omitting several intermediate hydrothermal steps. Using the reinvented methodology, the DSSC devices presented a comparable and excellent power conversion efficiency (& eta; = 3.30%) to commercial TiO2based DSSCs (& eta; = 3.81%). Hence, this preliminary study provided new perspectives toward simplifying wet chemical synthesis TiO2 techniques for the design structure of DSSCs.

Automated summary

Globally, the hydrothermal method is commonly used to synthesize TiO2 photoanodes for various applications, but it is often complex and difficult to follow. This study successfully developed a reinvented hydrothermal synthesis methodology, which demonstrated a mixed-phase TiO2 photoanodes without several intermediate hydrothermal steps. The DSSC devices fabricated using this methodology showed comparable and excellent power conversion efficiency (η=3.30%) to commercial TiO2-based DSSCs (η=3.81%). This preliminary study provides new perspectives on simplifying wet chemical synthesis techniques for TiO2 in the design of DSSCs.