TiO2 Particles with Controlled Size Prepared by a Simple Micro-Emulsion Method and their Application in the Dye-Senstitized Solar Cell

Abstract

Titanium dioxide was synthesized by a simple micro-emulsion method at low temperature. By using different surfactants and different mass ratios of the titanium source to the surfactant in the micro-emulsion system, we obtained the size controlled micro-structured titanium dioxide. The synthesized materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The 10~20nm TiO2 nanoparticles are obtained by adjusting the different surfactants to control the surfactant aggregation. The highest photoelectric conversion efficiency of 7.38% was achieved in the N719-sensitized solar cells in which the nanometer-sized semiconductor TiO2 was prepared by using TritonX-100 as the surfactant and the aqueous tetrabutyl titanate (TBT) as the titanium source with the ratio of 1:4 (TritonX-100 : TBT).