Enhanced efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells with novel synthesized TiO2

An anatase TiO2 and three kinds of novel TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared by a hydrothermal method for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which were obtained by mixing NaOH (10 M), KOH (14 M) and LiOH (10 M) solution with an anatase TiO2 powder, respectively. The TiO2 working electrodes of DSSCs were prepared and the photoelectric properties of the cells were characterized. The influence of different poly(ethylene glycol) contents in TiO2 films with and without HNO3 treatment on the electron transfer in DSSCs were investigated. It is found that the DSSC with HNO3 (0.002 mol/l)-treated film containing 16.7 wt% PEG shows the higher power conversion efficiency of 6.0%, which was mainly depended on the degrees of TiO2 pore size and uniformity of TiO2 films.