The importance of silica morphology in silica-titania composites with dye sensitized solar functionality

Silica-titania composite dye sensitized solar cells were prepared by synthesizing crystalline titania around silica particles to test dye sensitized solar cell performance under conditions where current would flow primarily in surface regions. Three different commercial silica particles were used in this study - each with a different mean particle size and pore structure to give information about the coverage and connectedness of the chemically-derived surface titania layer. The silica-titania composite materials were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and other techniques. The effect of surface area and porosity of the host silica particles on the morphology of the silica-titania layers and the performance in dye sensitized solar cells is discussed.