Hydrothermal seeded synthesis of mesoporous titania for application in dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs)

A modified-templated- hydrothermal technique was used to prepare mesoporous titania powders through the interaction of tiny anatase seeds (<5 nm) with block-copolymer Pluronic P123 in the presence ( acidic route) and absence of HCl ( neutral route). The calcined neutral powders featured a full anatase crystalline domain with high surface area (106.0 m(2) g(-1)) and large pore sizes (8.0 nm). Meanwhile, the acidic route produced higher surface area (156.7 m(2) g(-1)), larger pores (9.7 nm) and a mixture of anatase and rutile crystalline phases. The neutral route derived titania films showed higher DSSC performance up to a global efficiency of 5% using N3-ruthenium complex dye.