Synthesis of hollow spherical TiO2 for dye-sensitized solar cells with enhanced performance

TiO2 hollow spheres (HSs) have been synthesized using colloidal carbon spheres as templates. The photoelectric conversion performances of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs)/NPs, NPs/TiO2 HSs double-layered films were investigated. Owing to the hollow structure, the DSSC using TiO2 HSs as light-scattering layer exhibits an enhanced light harvesting efficiency, therefore leading to a 48% increment of cell efficiency compared to that pure TiO2 NP films. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.