Correlation between dispersion properties of TiO2 colloidal sols and photoelectric characteristics of TiO2 films.
TiO2 film for use as dye-sensitized solar cell was prepared using the TiO2 colloidal sols (unpeptized sol and peptized sol). The optical properties and photocurrent-voltage characteristics of the resultant films were investigated. The optical transmittance of TiO2 thin film prepared from the peptized colloidal sol was over 90%, while that of TiO2 film from the unpeptized sol was under 80%. The TiO2 photoelectrode prepared from the peptized colloidal sol showed low photoelectric conversion efficiency (eta), 1.30%, whereas the efficiency of photoelectrode from the unpeptized sol was 2.21%. The high optical transmittance and low conversion efficiency of TiO2 film from the peptized sol are discussed in terms of dense microstructure due to the drying nature of well-dispersed colloidal sol.
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, South Korea.
Hyun Suk
HS
Jung
Sang-Wook
SW
Lee
Jin Young
JY
Kim
Kug Sun
KS
Hong
Young Cheol
YC
Lee
Kyung Hyun
KH
Ko
D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D004566:Electrodes; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010777:Photochemistry; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties; D013997:Time Factors; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
D003102:Colloids; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium