Light-scattering photoanodes from double-layered mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles/SiO2 nanospheres for dye-sensitized solar cells

Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a promising solution to global energy and environmental problems. However, incompleted dye excitation and electron recombination reaction have limited the further enhancement of DSSC efficiency. We present here the experimental realization of double-layered titanium dioxide/silica nanosphere (TiO2/SiO2) photoanodes with light-scattering behaviors, aiming at markedly enhancing light harvesting and electron excitation. The photoelectric efficiency of resultant solar cell has been enhanced from 6.21% to 8.86% by optimizing preparation technique, yielding a 42.7% enhancement. The impressive results demonstrated that this strategy is promising in fabricating high-efficiency DSSC platforms.