A facile template-free route for synthesis of anatase TiO2 hollow spheres for dye-sensitized solar cells

•TiO2 hollow spheres are successfully prepared via a facile template-free hydrothermal method.•TiO2 hollow spheres have a prominent light scattering property.•The performance of TiO2 hollow spheres based DSSC demonstrates a 16% improvement compared to DSSC based on P25 nanoparticles.

TiO2 hollow spheres with outer diameter of 1.0-2.5 μm and shell thickness of 200 nm are successfully prepared via a facile hydrothermal method without use of any template agent. The as-prepared TiO2 hollow spheres are crystalline of the anatase phase, and possess a specific surface area of 48 m2 g−1. A high power conversion efficiency of 7.68% is achieved for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on TiO2 hollow sphere photoanode, representing a 16% efficiency boost over that of 6.65% achieved with the P25 based DSSC. Based on the optical investigation and electrochemical impedance measurement, the improved performance can be attributed to the enhanced light-scattering and the reduced interface recombination.

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