Synthesis, surface properties, crystal structure and dye-sensitized solar cell performance of TiO2 nanotube arrays anodized under different parameters

In this paper, TiO₂ nanotube arrays were prepared by anodic oxidation method. The effects of water content, anodizing time and sample post-treatment on the morphology and crystal structure of TiO₂ nanotube arrays were systematically investigated. We explored the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on dye N-719. The TiO₂ nanotube arrays prepared under different water content and different anodizing time conditions were used as photoanodes. The results show that DSSC has best photovoltaic performance when the water content is 2 vol%. With the increase of oxidation time, J_sc increases continuously, open voltage (V_oc) and fill factor (FF) increase first and then decrease. The best optoelectronic properties obtained that the short circuit current, open circuit voltage, fill factor and photoelectric conversion efficiency as following, J_sc = 5.2 mA/cm², V_oc = 0.7 V, FF = 0.54, η = 1.96% respectively.