Chemical synthesis of highly size-confined triethylamine-capped TiO 2 nanoparticles and its dye-sensitized solar cell performance

Abstract

TiO 2 nanoparticles were synthesized by a facile wet chemical synthesis using triethylamine (TEA) as a surface passivating agent. The role of TEA on the formation and functional properties of TiO 2 nanoparticles were investigated. Particle agglomeration was restricted and nanoparticle size was limited to 5 nm by passivating the amine molecule. Photoanodes were fabricated by spray deposition method using synthesized TiO 2 nanoparticles. The efficiency of 5.91% was obtained by the dye-sensitized solar cells.