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Published on: April 26, 2017
Radially oriented mesoporous TiO2 microspheres with single-crystal-like anatase walls for high-efficiency
Yong Liu1, Renchao Che1, Gang Chen2
1Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, i ChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
Abstract:
Highly crystalline mesoporous materials with oriented configurations are in demand for high-performance energy conversion devices. We report a simple evaporation-driven oriented assembly method to synthesize three-dimensional open mesoporous TiO2 microspheres with a diameter of ~800 nm, well-controlled radially oriented hexagonal mesochannels, and crystalline anatase walls. The mesoporous TiO2 spheres have a large accessible surface area (112 m(2)/g), a large pore volume (0.164 cm(3)/g), and highly single-crystal-like anatase walls with dominant (101) exposed facets, making them ideal for conducting mesoscopic photoanode films. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on the mesoporous TiO2 microspheres and commercial dye N719 have a photoelectric conversion efficiency of up to 12.1%. This evaporation-driven approach can create opportunities for tailoring the orientation of inorganic building blocks in the assembly of various mesoporous materials.
