Heterostructures of Cut Carbon Nanotube-Filled Array of TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanotubes for New Module of Photovoltaic Devices

Siqi Niu; Wenbin Yang; Heng Wei; Michail Danilov; Ihor Rusetskyi; Ketul C. Popat; Yao Wang; Matt J. Kipper; Laurence A. Belfiore; Jianguo Tang

doi:10.3390/nano12203604

Nanomaterials (Oct 2022)

Heterostructures of Cut Carbon Nanotube-Filled Array of TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanotubes for New Module of Photovoltaic Devices

Siqi Niu,
Wenbin Yang,
Heng Wei,
Michail Danilov,
Ihor Rusetskyi,
Ketul C. Popat,
Yao Wang,
Matt J. Kipper,
Laurence A. Belfiore,
Jianguo Tang

Affiliations

Siqi Niu: Institute of Hybrid Materials, National Center of International Joint Research for Hybrid Materials Technology, National Base of International Sci. & Tech. Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, Qingdao University, 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071, China
Wenbin Yang: Institute of Hybrid Materials, National Center of International Joint Research for Hybrid Materials Technology, National Base of International Sci. & Tech. Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, Qingdao University, 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071, China
Heng Wei: Institute of Hybrid Materials, National Center of International Joint Research for Hybrid Materials Technology, National Base of International Sci. & Tech. Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, Qingdao University, 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071, China
Michail Danilov: V.I. Vernadskii Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Ukrainian NAS, 32/34 Palladin avenue, 03142 Kyiv, Ukraine
Ihor Rusetskyi: V.I. Vernadskii Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Ukrainian NAS, 32/34 Palladin avenue, 03142 Kyiv, Ukraine
Ketul C. Popat: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Yao Wang: Institute of Hybrid Materials, National Center of International Joint Research for Hybrid Materials Technology, National Base of International Sci. & Tech. Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, Qingdao University, 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071, China
Matt J. Kipper: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Laurence A. Belfiore: Institute of Hybrid Materials, National Center of International Joint Research for Hybrid Materials Technology, National Base of International Sci. & Tech. Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, Qingdao University, 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071, China
Jianguo Tang: Institute of Hybrid Materials, National Center of International Joint Research for Hybrid Materials Technology, National Base of International Sci. & Tech. Cooperation on Hybrid Materials, Qingdao University, 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12203604
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 20
p. 3604

Abstract

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In this work, a new photovoltaic device was prepared. The device uses titanium (Ti) foil/TiO2 nanotubes as the photoanode and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as a photosensitizer. Titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TiO2-NTs) were prepared by one-step anodic oxidation. Cut-MWCNTs with a length of less than 100 nm were obtained by the mixed-acid oxidation of MWCNTs. The two materials were combined to form a TiO2-NTs@cut-MWCNT heterostructure by electrophoresis. TiO2-NTs@cut-MWCNTs were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), which showed that the two materials were effectively combined. We fabricated the heterostructure into a photovoltaic device, showing an enhanced photocurrent response and an efficiency of 0.0138%, and explained this phenomenon by performing UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and electrochemical tests. It is hoped that this work can provide a reference value for the application of carbon nanotubes in photovoltaic devices.

Published in Nanomaterials

ISSN: 2079-4991 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/nanomaterials

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