Jiaguo
Yu
*,
Jiajie
Fan
and
Kangle
Lv
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, P. R. China. E-mail: jiaguoyu@yahoo.com; Fax: +0086-27-87879468; Tel: +0086-27-87871029
First published on 20th September 2010
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are fabricated based on anatase TiO2 nanosheets (TiO2-NSs) with exposed {001} facets, which were obtained by a simple one-pot hydrothermal route using HF as a morphology controlling agent and Ti(OC4H9)4 as precursor. The prepared samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. The photoelectric conversion performances of TiO2-NSs solar cells are also compared with TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) and commercial-grade Degussa P25 TiO2 nanoparticle (P25) solar cells at the same film thickness, and their photoelectric conversion efficiencies (η) are 4.56, 4.24 and 3.64%, respectively. The enhanced performance of the TiO2-NS solar cell is due to their good crystallization, high pore volume, large particle size and enhanced light scattering. The prepared TiO2 nanosheet film electrode should also find wide-ranging potential applications in various fields including photocatalysis, catalysis, electrochemistry, separation, purification and so on.
Among various oxide semiconductor photocatalysts, titania has proven to be the most suitable for widespread solar energy conversion and environmental applications due to its biological and chemical inertness, strong oxidizing power, cost effectiveness, long-term stability against photocorrosion and chemical corrosion.8,16–18 It is well known that the morphology, porous structure and crystallinity of TiO2 play important roles in the photoelectric conversion efficiency of DSSCs.7,8,19–26 Therefore, different morphological TiO2, such as nanoparticles,8,21 nanotubes,22–24 nanowires,25 and nanofibers,26 have been applied to fabricate the porous photoanode films. Moreover, many mesoporous TiO2 powders have also been applied to fabricate the porous electrode for DSSCs.27–30 The total photoelectric conversion efficiency has already increased to 11.1% from its original 7.9%.1,29 This enhancement in efficiency is due to the fact that more dye molecules are adsorbed on the surface of TiO2.
The rapid transport and transfer of photogenerated electrons in the porous TiO2 films is pivotal to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of DSSCs and reduce the recombination rate of photo-generated electron-hole pairs.7,31 Fabrication of films by one-dimensional (1D) nano-structures has proven to be an effective way to enhance the performance of DSSCs because 1D nano-structures can facilitate electron transport and enhance the light harvesting due to scattering light.7,31–34 However, in most conventional DSSCs, 10–20 nanometre-sized TiO2 nanoparticles are used. The sizes are much smaller than the wavelength of visible light. The film is thus transparent with little light scattering. Incorporation of large nanoparticles (100 to 400 nm) has been employed as light-scattering centers to increase the optical length in the film, and an enhanced light-harvesting has been demonstrated both experimentally7,35 and theoretically.36–38 Therefore, it is reasonable to infer that two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets with sizes approaching 100 nanometres should have a similar effect and such materials are expected to exhibit high light-collection efficiency and a fast motion of charge carriers because their 2D nano-structures can enhance the light harvesting and electron transport rate.
Very recently, the role of fluorine (or fluorine effect) has attracted increasing attention of researchers in the photocatalytic field because of its capability to improve the photocatalytic activity and to control particle morphology of TiO2.39–49 Lu and co-workers reported the synthesis of anatase TiO2 microcrystals with highly energetic {001} facets through the use of hydrofluoric acid as a shape controlling agent.48 Han and co-workers used a similar strategy to synthesize anatase TiO2 nanosheets with 89% exposed {001} facets using hydrofluoric acid solution as the solvent.49 Since the (001) surface of anatase TiO2 nanosheets is much more reactive than the thermodynamically stable (101) surface, the obtained nanosheets will offer a new chance to design highly active photocatalytic materials and devices.50–52 However, to the best of our knowledge, there are few reports focusing on the fabrication of DSSCs based on 2D anatase TiO2 nanosheets (TiO2-NSs) with exposed {001} facets and their photoelectric conversion efficiencies (η). In this work, anatase TiO2-NSs with exposed {001} facets were for the first time applied to prepare the photoanodes of DSSCs and their performances are investigated and discussed and compared with TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) and the commercial photocatalyst Degussa P-25 (P25, a nonporous TiO2 nanopowder) powders.
Dye sensitization was performed by immersing TiO2 films in 0.3 mM N719 ruthenium dye (Lausanne, Switzerland) ethanol solution for at least 12 h at room temperature in a sealed beaker. After that, the sensitized porous TiO2 films were washed by anhydrous alcohol, and then dried in an oven at 80 °C for 2 h. Solar cells were assembled in a typical sandwich-type cell by placing a platinum-coated conducting glass on the dye-sensitized electrode separated by a ca. 50 μm polymer spacer. The assembled cell was then clipped together as an open cell. An electrolyte was made with 0.3 M LiI, 0.05 M I2, 0.6 M 1-propyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide, and 0.5 M tert-butylpyridine in dry acetonitrile. The electrolyte was injected into the open cell from the edges and a thin layer of electrolyte was attracted into the inter-electrode space by capillary forces, and the cell was tested immediately.
The photocurrent-voltage I–V characteristic curves were measured using an electrochemical analyzer (CHI660C Instruments) controlled by a computer. The light was produced by a solar simulator (Newport 91160) at 100 mW cm−2 (1 sun) intensity. The active area of DSSC was 4 × 4 mm2. The photoelectric conversion efficiency (η) was calculated according to eqn (1):
(1) |
The incident monochromatic photoelectric conversion efficiency (IPCE) was measured using Newport's QE/IPCE Measurement Kit, where a monochromator (Newport Cornerstone 130 1/8 m) was used to obtain the monochromatic light from a 300 W Xe lamp (Newport, model no. 6258). The IPCE scan is taken based on an AC (8 Hz) measurement. The IPCE was defined as eqn (2):
(2) |
In the above two formulas, η is the global efficiency, VOC, ISC, and FF are open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, and fill factor, respectively. Pin and λ are the light energy and wavelength of the incident monochromatic light, respectively. The measurements were repeated three times for each sample, and the experimental error was found to be within ca. 5%.
Fig. 1 SEM (a), TEM (b and c) and HRTEM (d) images of TiO2-NSs (a, c and d) and TiO2-NPs (b) films calcined at 450 °C. |
The phase structure, crystallite size, and crystallinity of TiO2 are of great influence on its photoelectric conversion efficiency (η) of DSSCs.53,55 XRD was used to characterize the difference of phase structures and crystallite sizes of the samples. Fig. 2a shows the XRD pattern of the pure substrate. Strong and sharp diffraction peaks can be observed and all peaks are attributed to the diffraction peaks of SnO2 (JCPDS No. 46-1088; space group: P42/mnm (136); a = 4.750 Å, c = 3.198 Å).53,56Fig. 2b, c and d show XRD patterns of the samples of TiO2-NSs, TiO2-NPs and P25 films calcined at 450 °C, respectively. For the samples of TiO2-NSs and TiO2-NPs, the anatase phase [JCPDS No. 21-1272, space group: I41/amd (141); a = 3.785 Å, c = 9.514 Å] is dominant, but there are several small peaks that exist in their patterns, corresponding to the SnO2 phase. For the P25 film, a small amount of rutile phase [JCPDS No. 21-1276, space group: P42/mnm (136); a = 4.593 Å, c = 2.959 Å] is observed. Further observation indicates that TiO2-NSs show sharper diffraction peaks than TiO2-NPs and P25, indicating its better crystallization and larger crystallites due to the enhanced effect of F−.34 The calculated anatase crystallite sizes according to the Scherrer formula for TiO2-NSs, TiO2-NPs and P25 are 29.4, 10.5 and 24.5 nm, respectively. Table 1 lists the average crystalline sizes and relative crystallinity of the samples of TiO2-NSs, TiO2-NPs and P25 films calcined at 450 °C. It can be seen that the sample of TiO2-NSs has larger average crystalline sizes and better crystallinity. This is in good agreement with the above TEM results.57
Fig. 2 XRD patterns of FTO glass substrate (a), TiO2-NSs (b), TiO2-NPs (c) and P25 (d) films calcined at 450 °C. |
Samples | S BET/m2 g−1 | Pore volume/cm3 g−1 | Average pore size/nm | Porosity (%) | Crystallite size/nm | Relative crystallinity |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
a A: anatase. Relative anatase crystallinity: the relative intensity of the diffraction peak from the anatase (101) plane (reference = TiO2-NPs). | ||||||
TiO2-NSs | 44 | 0.42 | 32.7 | 62.1 | 29.4 (A) | 1.54 |
TiO2-NPs | 101 | 0.36 | 14.2 | 58.4 | 10.5 (A) | 1 |
P25 | 45 | 0.15 | 13.6 | 36.9 | 24.5 (A) | 1.23 |
Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms were measured to determine the specific surface areas and pore size distribution of the samples of TiO2-NSs and TiO2-NPs (see Fig. 3). The isotherms corresponding to the sample of TiO2-NPs are of type IV according to Brunauer-Deming-Deming-Teller (BDDT) classification, as indicated by a hysteresis loop at high relatively pressures associated with capillary condensation of gases within mesopores (2–50 nm).54,57,58 The hysteresis loop is of type H2, which is consistent with pores with narrow necks and wider bodies (ink-bottle pores). The pore size distribution (inset in Fig. 3) calculated from the desorption branch of the nitrogen isotherm by the BJH method shows a wide range from 2 to 60 nm with a maximum pore diameter of about 9.0 nm.54,57,58 The presence of fluoride in the synthesis system exerts a significant influence on the pore structure and BET surface areas of the obtained products (Table 1). For the sample of TiO2-NSs, the average pore size and pore volume increase and the BET surface areas decrease due to growth of TiO2 crystallites (see Table 1). Furthermore, the shapes of the hysteresis loops change from type H2 to H3, indicating the presence of slit-like pores. The isotherms show high absorption at high relative pressure (P/P0) range (approaching 1.0), indicating the formation of large mesopores and macropores. In fact, the single-crystal nanosheets do not contain mesopores and macropores. Therefore, the existing nanopores (or pore volume) are from the aggregation of nanosheets.58 Such organized porous structures might be extremely useful in solar cells as they would provide efficient transport pathways to electrolyte molecules.
Fig. 3 Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms and the corresponding pore size distribution curves (inset) of the TiO2-NSs and TiO2-NPs powders scraped from their 450 °C calcined films. |
Comparison of the I–V characteristics of DSSCs made from TiO2-NSs, TiO2-NPs and P25 films is shown in Fig. 4. The three cells have very similar VOC and FF, however, their ISC and η are different. TiO2-NSs cell exhibit the largest ISC and highest η (4.56%). This can be attributed to the following reasons. First, the pore volume of TiO2-NSs film is larger than that of TiO2-NPs and P25 film, which can enhance transfer and diffusion of electrolyte. It is well known that the efficient diffusion of I3−/I− to regenerate the dye is important to the photovoltaic response of the solar cells. Second, comparing with TiO2-NPs and P25, the 2D nanosheets with exposed {001} facets can enhance the efficiency because theoretical and experimental studies have indicated that the (001) surface of anatase TiO2 is much more reactive than the thermodynamically more stable (101) surface, implying that the dye molecules are more easily and tightly adsorbed on the surface of TiO2-NSs.48,58 Third, good crystallization of TiO2-NSs, meaning fewer defects (i.e. imperfections, impurities, dangling bonds, or microvoids) located on the surface and in the bulk of particles, is beneficial to reduce the recombination of photo-generated electrons and holes at defects.58 Finally, light scattering from 2D TiO2-NSs extends the distance that light travels within the photoelectrode film and provides the photons with more opportunities to be absorbed by the dye molecules, resulting in a significant increase in the light-harvesting capability of the photoelectrode,7 because the scattering only occurs when the particle size is comparable to the wavelength of incident light. For TiO2-NPs and P25 DSSC, the light scattering effect is usually ignored due to their size being smaller than 30 nm, which is far away from the wavelength of visible light. All these factors contribute to the enhancement of photovoltaic conversion performance of TiO2-NSs DSSCs. Fig. 5 displays comparison of IPCE of DSSCs made from TiO2-NSs, TiO2-NPs and P25 as a function of wavelength. The IPCE is in good agreement with the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the solar cells (see Fig. 4 and Table 2). The maximum value of the IPCE spectra appears at ca. 530–540 nm, and the IPCE of TiO2-NSs solar cell is about 19.3% at 540 nm, obviously higher than that of the TiO2-NPs (16.3%) and P25 (10.7%) solar cells. The surface concentration of N719 dye adsorbed on TiO2-NSs, TiO2-NPs and P25 photoanodes is 1.43 × 10−7, 2.14 × 10−7 and 1.12 × 10−7 mol. cm−2, respectively. Although the TiO2-NSs film adsorbs fewer dye molecules than TiO2-NPs film, the former containing less dye still shows a higher efficiency, indicating that the sheet-like morphology and exposed (001) facets indeed play an important role in the enhancement of solar cell performance.
Fig. 4 Comparison of the I–V characteristics of DSSCs made from TiO2-NSs, TiO2-NPs and P25 films calcined at 450 °C. |
Fig. 5 IPCE of DSSCs made from TiO2-NSs, TiO2-NPs and P25 films calcined at 450 °C. |
Samples | I SC/mA cm−2 | V OC/V | FF | η (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
TiO2-NSs | 12.5 | 0.583 | 0.627 | 4.56 |
TiO2-NPs | 11.3 | 0.588 | 0.638 | 4.24 |
P25 | 9.61 | 0.589 | 0.643 | 3.64 |
UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra of the samples of TiO2-NSs, TiO2-NPs and P25 are compared and shown in Fig. 6. The onsets of the absorption edges for TiO2-NSs and TiO2-NPs are at ca. 390 nm, which is consistent with the intrinsic bandgap absorption of pure anatase TiO2 (∼3.2 eV). It is apparent that the diffuse reflectance spectra of P25 exhibit a red shift of absorption edge due to the presence of the rutile phase. All the samples exhibit relatively strong absorption in the visible light region due to the adsorption of dye molecules on the surface of TiO2 compared with pure TiO2 samples.59 Further observation indicates that the absorption in the visible-light range has a great difference for the three samples. The TiO2-NSs sample presents the strongest visible-light absorption from 400 to 800 nm. Contrarily, the P25 sample shows the weakest visible-light absorption. Undoubtedly, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra of the samples further support our above explanation based on light-scattering.
Fig. 6 UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra of the TiO2-NSs, TiO2-NPs and P25 films calcined at 450 °C. |
The TiO2-NSs was prepared in the electrolyte containing HF, so the surface of TiO2-NSs was readily fluorinated. To further clarify whether surface fluorination influences the performance of solar cells, the chemical composition and chemical status of TiO2-NSs before and after 450 °C calcination were analyzed by XPS. Fig. 7a shows comparison of the XPS survey spectra of TiO2 NSs before and after 450 °C calcination. Sharp photoelectron peaks appear at binding energies of 458 (Ti 2p) and 531 eV (O 1s) in both cases, along with a C 1s peak at 285 eV due to contamination from the XPS instrument itself. For uncalcined TiO2-NSs, the F1s peak at 684.5 eV is observed due to surface fluorination. After 450 °C calcination, the XPS peak of F1s almost disappears due to evaporation of F element, suggesting that the F− in TiO2 is not stable and is easily removed by calcination treatment. High resolution XPS spectra (Fig. 7b) of F1s further indicate that no signal for F− in the lattice (BE = 688.5 eV) is found, implying all F− is adsorbed on the surface of TiO2-NSs.60–64 This is not surprising because the hydrothermal environment is not beneficial to doping and can accelerate crystallization of TiO2 by an in situ dissolution-recrystallization process, resulting in the reduction of the number of defects and impurities within TiO2 crystals.58,60 The amount of F in TiO2-NSs samples before and after 450 °C calcination is ca. 5.1 and 0.5 (at)%, respectively, indicating that most F element is removed by a 450 °C calcination. Consequently, we have not considered the effect of element F on solar cell performance in this study.
Fig. 7 XPS survey spectra (a) and high-resolution XPS spectra of the F1s region (b) of the TiO2-NSs powders scraped from the uncalcined and 450 °C calcined TiO2-NSs films. |
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