High-Performance Nanoporous TiO2/La2O3 Hybrid Photoanode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

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• 作者：Hua Yu ; Bofei Xue ; Porun Liu ; Jingxia Qiu ; William Wen ; Shanqing Zhang ; Huijun Zhao
• 刊名：ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
• 出版年：2012
• 出版时间：March 28, 2012
• 年：2012
• 卷：4
• 期：3
• 页码：1289-1294
• 全文大小：321K
• 年卷期：v.4,no.3(March 28, 2012)
• ISSN：1944-8252

文摘

An organic lanthanum solution was prepared and used for modifying the nanoporous TiO₂ photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The preliminary characterization results demonstrate that La₂O₃ was formed on the surface of the TiO₂ photoanodes. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses suggest that La³⁺ was introduced into the TiO₂ nanocrystalline, while, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and tunnelling electron microscopy (TEM) characterizations suggest that a thin La₂O₃ layer forms on surface of the TiO₂ nanostructure. The La₂O₃ layer is able to alleviate the electron recombination as a passivation layer. Though the slight decrease in surface areas were induced by the surface modification, the dye loading were maintained, which can be attributed to the formation of strong co-ordination bonding between the dye molecules and the lanthanide. The bonding can also facilitate the electron transfer between the dye molecules and TiO₂ conduction band. Consequently, the open circuit potential and short circuit current were boosted significantly and the overall energy conversion efficiency of the DSSCs was remarkably improved from 6.84% for the control film to 9.67% for the La³⁺-modified film.

Keywords:

TiO₂/La₂O₃ photoanode; DSSCs; dye adsorption; electron transportation