Synthesis and application of TiO ₂ in solar cells: analysis of proportion of titanium isopropoxide

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells are efficiently developed with TiO₂ in the composition. Titanium isopropoxide, due to its high organic load, prevents agglomeration of the metal nucleus, generating particles of small size, becoming ideal for TiO₂ synthesis. This paper aimed to evaluate the proportion of titanium isopropoxide in TiO₂ synthesis by Pechini methodology. The particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. The cells were characterized by j-V curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It was demonstrated that the studied proportions had no significant effects on particle crystallinity and shape. It was also observed that metallic cation:citric acid molar proportion of 2:1 presented particles with a smaller size, facilitating the adsorption of the dye by enhancing the photoelectrochemical parameters. The characterization of the solar cell in this condition provided efficiency of energy conversion $\eta =6.94\%\pm 0.07\%$, current density $j=9,10\pm 0,09mA.c{m}^{-2}$, and electron lifetime ${\tau }_e=56,98ms$.

Keywords:
Pechini methodology; nanoparticles; renewable energy; Gratzel cells