Single-crystalline rutile TiO2 hollow spheres: room-temperature synthesis, tailored visible-light-extinction, and effective scattering layer for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells.
A general synthesis of inorganic single-crystalline hollow spheres has been achieved through a mechanism analogous to the Kirkendall effect, based on a simple one-step laser process performed at room temperature. Taking TiO(2) as an example, we describe the laser process by investigating the influence of experimental parameters, for example, laser wavelength, laser fluence/irradiation time, liquid medium, and concentration of starting materials, on the formation of hollow spheres. It was found that the size-tailored TiO(2) hollow spheres demonstrate tunable light scattering over a wide visible-light range. Inspired by the effect of light scattering, we introduced the TiO(2) hollow sphere's scattering layer in quantum dot-sensitized solar cells and achieved a current notable 10% improvement of solar-to-electric conversion efficiency, indicating that TiO(2) hollow spheres are potential candidates in optical and optoelectronic devices.
Nanosystem Research Institute (NRI), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 5, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan. hqwang@issp.ac.cn
Hongqiang
H
Wang
Masahiro
M
Miyauchi
Yoshie
Y
Ishikawa
Alexander
A
Pyatenko
Naoto
N
Koshizaki
Yue
Y
Li
Liang
L
Li
Xiangyou
X
Li
Yoshio
Y
Bando
Dmitri
D
Golberg