Synthesis and electrophoretic deposition of hollow-TiO2 nanoparticles for dye sensitized solar cell applications

Hollow TiO2 nanoparticles having similar to 200 nm size are successfully prepared via selective etching of Au@TiO2 core shell nanoparticles which were synthesized by microwave hydrothermal growth. Electrophoretic deposition was successfully applied to make hollow TiO2 nanoparticles scattering layer for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) applications. The surface morphology and roughness features of deposited hollow TiO2 nanoparticles films are studied by field emission scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope techniques respectively. The light scattering property of H-TiO2 makes it a promising candidate for use as the scattering layer in dye sensitized solar cells. Enhanced J(SC) values for the H-TiO2 based DSSCs were attributed to larger dye adsorption and stronger light scattering compared to the commercial TiO2 nanoparticle with a crystalline size of 20 nm. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.