Biotemplated hybrid TiO₂ nanoparticle and TiO₂–SiO₂ composites for dye-sensitized solar cells

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Hybrid TiO<SUB>2</SUB>-nanoparticle (NP)/TiO<SUB>2</SUB>–SiO<SUB>2</SUB> (TS) composites, prepared using rice straw biotemplates were used as photoelectrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells. The hybrid TiO<SUB>2</SUB>-NP/TS composite showed increased dye loading due to a faster electron diffusion pathway. This could effectively improve the photoelectrode properties of this nanocomposite material, which would improve its solar conversion efficiency. TiO<SUB>2</SUB>-NP/TS (10wt%) based DSSC demonstrated a <I>τ</I> <SUB>t</SUB> of 1.17ms, <I>τ</I> <SUB>r</SUB> of 37.14ms, and showed a maximum power conversion efficiency of 5.81%. <I>V</I> <SUB>oc</SUB>, <I>J</I> <SUB>sc</SUB>, and fill factor values of TiO<SUB>2</SUB>-NP/TS were found to be 0.69V, 14.01mAcm<SUP>−2</SUP>, and 60.11%, respectively under AM 1.5 simulated sunlight illumination (100mWcm<SUP>−2</SUP>).</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> TiO<SUB>2</SUB>–SiO<SUB>2</SUB> composite was fabricated by using rice straw as a biotemplate. </LI> <LI> Biotemplated TiO<SUB>2</SUB>–SiO<SUB>2</SUB> composites provide a faster electron diffusion pathway. </LI> <LI> Hybrid TiO<SUB>2</SUB>-NP/TiO<SUB>2</SUB>–SiO<SUB>2</SUB> composite increased the dye adsorption ability. </LI> <LI> Photovoltaic properties of hybrid TiO<SUB>2</SUB>-NP/TiO<SUB>2</SUB>–SiO<SUB>2</SUB> composite were enhanced. </LI> </UL> </P>