Photoelectric characteristics of nanocrystalline TiO2 film prepared from TiO2 colloid sol for dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract

A working electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells was fabricated using TiO2 colloidal sol prepared from titanium isopropoxide used as a starting material by applying the sol-gel method. The effect of aging times and temperatures on physical and chemical properties of TiO2 sol particles was systematically investigated. Results showed that the crystallinity and average particle size of TiO2 colloidal sol can be successfully controlled by the adjustment of aging time and temperature. The conversion efficiency of the repetitive dry coating films fabricated using the dried TiO2 colloidal sol particles and hydroxypropyl cellulose binder (15%) was 10.31% with a high transparency.