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Soft‐template synthesis of high surface area mesoporous titanium dioxide for dye‐sensitized solar cells
Author(s) -
Selvaraj Prabhakaran,
Roy Anurag,
Ullah Habib,
Sujatha Devi Parukuttyamma,
Tahir Asif Ali,
Mallick Tapas Kumar,
Sundaram Senthilarasu
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.4288
Subject(s) - dye sensitized solar cell , materials science , titanium dioxide , chemical engineering , mesoporous material , open circuit voltage , sodium dodecyl sulfate , solar cell , bromide , electrochemistry , nanoparticle , short circuit , density functional theory , titanium , current density , cationic polymerization , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , electrode , chemistry , optoelectronics , composite material , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , voltage , electrolyte , physics , computational chemistry , quantum mechanics , engineering , metallurgy , catalysis
Summary In the present work, 10 to 14 nm titania nanoparticles with high‐packing density are synthesized by the soft‐template method using a range of cationic surfactants including cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB). The synthesized nanoparticles are used as a photoanode material in dye solar cells. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations reproduce our experimental results of charge transfer and strong interaction between the TiO 2 and N719. N719‐TiO 2 complex establishes strong electrostatic bonding through H of the dye with the O of TiO 2 surface. Solar cell efficiency of 6.08% with 12.63 mA/cm 2 , 793 mV, and 48.5% for short circuit current density, open circuit voltage, and fill factor, respectively, are obtained under 1 sun illumination for the dye‐sensitized solar cell (DSSC) using a film of mesoporous TiO 2 synthesized from the SDS surfactant. On the other hand, the 21 nm commercial TiO 2 powder (P25) device results in 4.60% efficiency under similar conditions. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopic studies show that the SDS device has lesser charge transport resistance than the other devices because of its higher surface area, packing density, and dye loading capacity. Our results show that employing high packing density‐based TiO 2 nanoparticles represents a commercially viable approach for highly beneficial photoanode development for future DSSC applications.