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TiO 2 Porous Electrodes with Hierarchical Branched Inner Channels for Charge Transport in Viscous Electrolytes
Author(s) -
Zhao Yong,
Sheng Xianliang,
Zhai Jin,
Jiang Lei,
Yang Chunhe,
Sun Zhongwei,
Li Yongfang,
Zhu Daoben
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.200600664
Subject(s) - dye sensitized solar cell , electrolyte , materials science , dielectric spectroscopy , energy conversion efficiency , electrode , ionic liquid , chemical engineering , titanium dioxide , light scattering , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , scattering , electrochemistry , chemistry , optics , composite material , biochemistry , physics , engineering , catalysis
Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) photoelectrodes with micro/nano hierarchical branched inner channels have been prepared by an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) technique and assembled to form dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Excellent penetration of ionic‐liquid electrolytes and enhanced light harvesting in the longer wavelength region are realized within the composite‐structure electrode, thus a better fill factor ( ff ) of 75.3 % and higher conversion efficiency ( η ) of 7.1 % are obtained for viscous ionic‐liquid electrolytes compared to pure nanostructured films. Hierarchical branched channels in the photoanodes can efficiently improve the transport properties of redox‐active species in viscous electrolytes, which is demonstrated by electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The incident monochromatic photon‐to‐electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) shows that enhanced light scattering in the composite film is of benefit for light harvesting and thus for solar energy conversion efficiency.