Miaoqiang Lv

Hierarchically structured nanotubes for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.

Hierarchical TiO2 nanotube arrays grown on Ti foil are yielded by subjecting electrochemically anodized, vertically oriented TiO2 nanotube arrays to hydrothermal processing. The resulting DSSCs exhibit a significantly enhanced power conversion efficiency of 7.24%, which is a direct consequence of the synergy of higher dye loading, superior light-scattering ability, and fast electron transport.

Optimized porous rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays for enhancing the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells

Highly ordered rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays (NRAs) are promising architectures in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). However, the efficiency of DSCs based on such photoanodes is still relatively low, largely due to the limited internal surface area. Herein, we report that highly oriented rutile TiO2 NRAs with film thickness up to ∼30 μm was developed by a facile hydrothermal method. More importantly, an optimized porous rutile TiO2 NRAs with a large internal surface area was fabricated on the FTO (fluorine-doped tin oxide) substrate via a secondary hydrothermal treatment and when applied as the photoanodes in DSCs, a record efficiency of 7.91% was achieved.

Design, Fabrication, and Modification of Cost-Effective Nanostructured TiO 2 for Solar Energy Applications

One of the greatest challenges for human society and civilization is the development of powerful technologies to harness renewable solar energy to satisfy the ever-growing energy demands. Semiconductor nanomaterials have important applications in the field of solar energy conversion. Among these, TiO2 represents one of the most promising functional semiconductors and is extensively utilized in photoelectrochemical applications, including photocatalysis (e.g., H2 generation from water splitting) and photovoltaics (e.g., dye-sensitized solar cells, DSSCs). As such, many efforts have focused on developing and exploiting cost-effective nanostructured TiO2 materials for efficient solar energy applications.