Enhancing the photoelectrical performance of dye-sensitized solar cells using TiO2:Eu3+ nanorods

TiO2:Eu3+ nanorods are hydrothermally grown and used to fabricate a bilayer film electrode in a dye-sensitized solar cell. A light-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of 8.0% and a quantum efficiency of 93.7% (at 575 nm) is achieved in this solar cell. The high efficiency is due to the improvement of ultraviolet light harvesting via a down-conversion luminescence process by the Eu3+ ion and the increase of light scattering by one-dimensional TiO2.