title: Template-free synthesis of hierarchical TiO2 structures and their application in dye-sensitized solar cells.
abstract: We demonstrate here the synthesis of a hierarchical TiO(2) architecture without any surfactants or templates. Two kinds of structure existed simultaneously, the ordered nanoarrays at bottom provided direct conduction pathway for photo generated electrons, while the upper micro-flowers consisted of nanobelt as building units increased the light harvesting ability as the scattering part. The formation mechanism of the hierarchical architecture has been proposed by studying the morphology evolution processes upon reaction time. The performance of dye-sensitized solar cells based on the obtained hierarchical anatase TiO(2) has been also studied, giving a J(SC) = 12.44 mA cm(-2), V(OC) = 0.64 V, FF = 69.05%, and η = 5.53%, which is superior than commercial TiO(2) (P25). The UV-vis results prove that the obtained morphology is beneficial to light-scattering and thus increases the light harvesting ability. This hierarchical TiO(2) structure offers great potential for the development of high-efficiency DSSCs.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Lab of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Ding Xi Road, Shanghai 200050, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Songwang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jianqiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo