title: An insight into the role of oxygen vacancy in hydrogenated TiO₂ nanocrystals in the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells.
abstract: Hydrogenated titanium dioxide (H-TiO2) nanocrystals were successfully prepared via annealing TiO2 in H2/N2 mixed gas flow at elevated temperatures ranging from 300 to 600 °C. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra were used to determine the produced oxygen vacancy in H-TiO2. Variations in temperature were studied to investigate the concentration change of oxygen vacancy in H-TiO2. The H-TiO2 nanocrystals prepared at different temperatures were employed into photoanodes sensitized by N719 dye and found to have exceptional effect on the solar-to-electric energy conversion efficiency (η). Photoanodes with H-TiO2 nanocrystals hydrogenated at 300 °C show the highest short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 18.92 mA cm(-2) and photoelectrical conversion efficiency of 7.76% under standard AM 1.5 global solar irradiation, indicating a 27 and 28% enhancement in Jsc and η, respectively, in comparison to those with TiO2. The enhancement is attributed to high donor density, narrow band gap and positive shift of flat band energy (Vfb) of H-TiO2 that promote the driving force for electron injection. Intensity-modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS) accompanied by intensity-modulated photovoltage spectroscopy (IMVS) and other analyses were applied to shed more light on the fundamental mechanisms inside the charge transfer and transport in these systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and ‡Condensed Matter Science and Technology Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin 150001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Yulin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Na
authors.forename: Ruiqing
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Liguo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Wenwu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cao
keywords: DSSCs; TiO2 nanocrystals; hydrogenation temperature; oxygen vacancy; photoanode