Study on the fabrication and photovoltaic property of TiO2 mesoporous microspheres

Titanium dioxide mesoporous microspheres with high surface area was successfully prepared by a facile one-step hydrothermal approach using polyethylene glycol (PEG, MW 200) as the soft template. Study shows that ∼15 nm TiO2 nanoparticles was assembled into ∼1.1 μm mesoporous microspheres. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of TiO2 microsphere is up to 137 m2/g. TiO2 mesoporous microspheres were fabricated onto the surface of fluorine-doped tin oxide glass and used as the photoanode of dye-sensitized solar cells, which exhibits an open circuit photovoltage of 0.80 V and an overall conversion efficiency of 6.6%. Owing to the enhanced dye loading and light-harvesting efficiency, a 26% improvement in the overall conversion efficiency was achieved when compared with the commercial Degussa P25 nanoparticles.

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► TiO2 mesoporous spheres (TMS) was prepared and used as photoanodes in DSSC.
► TMS can provide a notably high surface area for dye loading.
► The suitable size of TMS enhance the light-scattering capability.
► A 26% improvement in the overall conversion efficiency was achieved when compared with Degussa P25.