Hydrothermal synthesis of 1D TiO2 nanostructures for dye sensitized solar cells

El pdf del artículo es la versión pre-print.Mono-dimensional titanium oxide nanostructures (multi-walled nanotubes and nanorods) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method and applied to the construction of dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs). First, nanotubes (TiNTs) and nanotubes loaded with titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiNT/NPs) were synthesized with specific surface areas of 253 m2/g and 304 m2/g, respectively. After that, thermal treatment of the nanotubes at 500 °C resulted in their transformation into the corresponding anatase nanorods (TiNT-Δ and TiNT/NPs-Δ samples). X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy data indicated that titanium oxide in the pristine TiNT and TiNT/NP samples was converted into anatase phase TiO2 during the heating. Additionally, specific surface areas and water adsorption capacities decreased after the heat treatment due to the sample agglomeration and the collapse of the inner nanotube channels. DSCs were fabricated with the nanotube TiNT and TiNT/NP samples and with the anatase nanorod TiNT-Δ and TiNT/NPs-Δ samples as well. The highest power conversion efficiency of η = 3.12% was obtained for the TiNT sample, despite its lower specific surface compared with the corresponding nanoparticle-loaded sample (TiNT/NP). © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work was funded by the Government of Aragon and La Caixa (project ref. GA-LC-041/2008) and by the Spanish MICINN (projects ref. EUI2008-00152 and ENE2008-04373). We thank the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) for the JAE-Doc contracts awarded to Y.Y. and A.A. To the Xarxa de Referència en Materials Avanc¸ ats per a l’Energia, XaRMAE (Reference Center for Advanced Materials for Energy) of the Catalonia Government.Peer Reviewe