Mesoporous TiO2 microspheres have been synthesized via a simple one-plot hydrothermal method and were used as the light scattering layer on top of the P25 TiO2 compact layer to form… Click to show full abstract
Mesoporous TiO2 microspheres have been synthesized via a simple one-plot hydrothermal method and were used as the light scattering layer on top of the P25 TiO2 compact layer to form a double-layer film based photoanode for the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Characteristics and light scattering properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption analysis and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. Photovoltaic performance of the fabricated DSSC was also investigated. It showed that photoelectric conversion efficiency of the double-layer film based DSSC was increased to 5.61% compared with single P25 compact layer film based (2.67%) and single TiO2 microspheres layer film based (2.14%) DSSC. Improvement of DSSC performance can be attributed to excellent light scattering capability given by mesoporous TiO2 microspheres. Electrochemical impedance spectra analysis also proved that double-layered structure can result in prolonged exciton lifetime, improved charge collection efficiency and decreased charge recombination.
               
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