Rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays incorporated with α-alumina for high efficiency dye sensitized solar cells
Abstract
Rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays (TNAs) incorporating with α-alumina (α-Al2O3) thin film have been fabricated on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) by a modest and flexible doctor-blade technique-based hydrothermal method. The crystallinity of α-Al2O3 on TNAs and morphological control of the photo-anodes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis spectrophotometry, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive spectrometric (EDS) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The growth of α-Al2O3 crystals is influenced by aluminium seed concentrations. The growth mechanism of different morphological TNAs due to the incorporation of α-Al2O3 was discussed in detail. It has also demonstrated to the application of dye sensitized solar cells. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) prepared with 3% α-Al2O3 incorporated TNAs shows an improved short-circuit current density of 15.23 mA cm-2, open-circuit photo voltage of 0.68 V, fill factor of 0.63 and a power conversion efficiency of 6.5%.
- Publication:
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Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing
- Pub Date:
- February 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1007/s00339-019-2407-1
- Bibcode:
- 2019ApPhA.125..118S