Titanium Dioxide Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Properties, Modifications, and Applications

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) offer the possibilities to design solar cells with a large flexibility in shape, color, and transparency. DSC research groups have been established around the worl ...

/pdf/dye-sensitized-solar-cells-50b0w2bhsr.pdf

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

2.3. Evaluation of Photocatalytic Water Splitting 6507 2.3.1. Photocatalytic Activity 6507 2.3.2. Photocatalytic Stability 6507 3. UV-Active Photocatalysts for Water Splitting 6507 3.1. d0 Metal Oxide Photocatalyts 6507 3.1.1. Ti-, Zr-Based Oxides 6507 3.1.2. Nb-, Ta-Based Oxides 6514 3.1.3. W-, Mo-Based Oxides 6517 3.1.4. Other d0 Metal Oxides 6518 3.2. d10 Metal Oxide Photocatalyts 6518 3.3. f0 Metal Oxide Photocatalysts 6518 3.4. Nonoxide Photocatalysts 6518 4. Approaches to Modifying the Electronic Band Structure for Visible-Light Harvesting 6519

Semiconductor-based Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation

A polymer solar-cell based on a bulk hetereojunction design with an internal quantum efficiency of over 90% across the visible spectrum (425 nm to 575 nm) is reported. The device exhibits a power-conversion efficiency of 6% under standard air-mass 1.5 global illumination tests.

Bulk heterojunction solar cells with internal quantum efficiency approaching 100

TiO(2) is one of the most studied compounds in materials science. Owing to some outstanding properties it is used for instance in photocatalysis, dye-sensitized solar cells, and biomedical devices. In 1999, first reports showed the feasibility to grow highly ordered arrays of TiO(2) nanotubes by a simple but optimized electrochemical anodization of a titanium metal sheet. This finding stimulated intense research activities that focused on growth, modification, properties, and applications of these one-dimensional nanostructures. This review attempts to cover all these aspects, including underlying principles and key functional features of TiO(2), in a comprehensive way and also indicates potential future directions of the field.

TiO2 nanotubes: synthesis and applications.

Highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells were produced using single-crystalline TiO 2 nanotubes as a thin-film semiconductor because of the very high electron transfer through single-crystalline TiO 2 nanotubes when compared to that through nanoporous TiO 2 films composed of nanoparticles. The dye-sensitized solar cells with single-crystalline TiO 2 nanotubes showed more than double the short-circuit current density than those made of titania nanoparticles Degussa P-25 in the thin-film thickness region. Titania nanotubes were synthesized using molecular assemblies composed of surfactant molecules, i.e., laurylamine hydrochloride, and titanium alkoxide, i.e., tetraisopropylorthotitanate modified with acetylacetone, as a template. They have outer and inner diameters of about 10 and 5 nm, respectively, a length in the range from 30 nm to several hundred nanometers, and have a single-crystalline structure of anatase, as confirmed on lattice images observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The light to electricity conversion of the titania nanotube cells was around 5%. They also showed the highest photocatalytic activity when compared to the commercially available nanocrystalline titania.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1.1589763/pdf

Formation of Titania Nanotubes and Applications for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Insertion of a TiOx layer between the Al electrode and the active layer of an organic photovoltaic cell resulted in a high performance with 94% durability under irradiation (100mW∕cm2) for 100h and had improved fill factor and open circuit voltage. An efficiency of 4.05% was achieved by using the cell containing a TiOx layer fabricated and measured in ambient atmosphere. The TiOx layer works as an effective barrier to physical damage and chemical degradation, resulting in high durability under aerobic conditions, and also serves as a hole blocking layer, resulting in improved parallel resistance and rectification.

Susumu Yoshikawa

Papers

Formation of Titania Nanotubes and Applications for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

High performance polythiophene/fullerene bulk-heterojunction solar cell with a TiOx hole blocking layer

Comparative investigation on photocatalytic hydrogen evolution over Cu-, Pd-, and Au-loaded mesoporous TiO2 photocatalysts

Syntheses of TiO2(B) nanowires and TiO2 anatase nanowires by hydrothermal and post-heat treatments

Photocatalytic evolution of hydrogen over mesoporous TiO2 supported NiO photocatalyst prepared by single-step sol–gel process with surfactant template