Synthesis, surface properties, crystal structure and dye-sensitized solar cell performance of TiO2 nanotube arrays anodized under different parameters

Abstract

In this paper, TiO2 nanotube arrays were prepared by anodic oxidation method. The effects of water content, anodizing time and sample post-treatment on the morphology and crystal structure of TiO2 nanotube arrays were systematically investigated. We explored the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on dye N-719. The TiO2 nanotube arrays prepared under different water content and different anodizing time conditions were used as photoanodes. The results show that DSSC has best photovoltaic performance when the water content is 2 vol%. With the increase of oxidation time, Jsc increases continuously, open voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) increase first and then decrease. The best optoelectronic properties obtained that the short circuit current, open circuit voltage, fill factor and photoelectric conversion efficiency as following, Jsc = 5.2 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.7 V, FF = 0.54, η = 1.96% respectively. Keywords: TiO2 nanotube arrays, Anodic oxidation method, Water content, Anodizing time, Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC)