Structural, Optical, Functional, Morphological and Compositional Analysis of Ni - doped TiO2 Nanofibers Prepared by Electrospinning Technique

Abstract

Abstract In the present work, three different concentration of Nickel is doped with TiO2/PVA nanofibers by electrospinning method which can be used as photoanode in DSSC applications. The samples are annealed at 2000C for one hour. XRD results show the anatase phase of the prepared samples. FESEM images of different concentration of nanofibers show that diameter of nanofibers depends on the concentration of Ni. Large concentrations of nanofibers show fewer diameters of nanofibers. The EDX spectrum clearly confirmed that the TiO2 composite nanofibers are consists of nickel, titanium and oxygen elements. From UV-DRS studies, redshift is observed with the increase in dopant concentration. The transitions are direct and indirect allowed and the calculated bandgap finds to be decreasing with increase in dopant concentration. PL spectra of Ni-doped samples show less intensity, which indicates the low recombination rate and intensity decreases with increase in dopant concentration. It is concluded that Ni is doped with TiO2/PVA gives better energy conversion efficiency in DSSC compare to undoped TiO2.