Enhanced the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells with a novel photoanode using TiO2 nanoflower clusters and nanoparticles

A composite nanostructure of TiO2 nanoflowers (NFC) grown on the TiO2 nanobelts have been fabricated successfully. The mixed films using different proportions (0:10, 1:9, 3:7, 5:5 7:3, 9:1 and 10:0) of NFC/P25 are prepared for the photoanodes of DSSC, and the highest energy-conversation efficiency of 6.38% is obtained in DSSC using NFC/P25 photoanode with 5:5 mass ratio, presenting Jsc and Voc of 13.57 mA and 0.78 V, respectively. The high efficiency DSSC is mainly attributed to two aspects: NFC enhances the light harvesting by the light scattering, and provides the direct electrical transport pathways for photogenerated electrons; P25 with large surface area boosts the dye absorption. Hence, the NFC architecture improves the power conversion efficiency of DSSCs.