Reduced electron recombination of dye-sensitized solar cells based on TiO₂ spheres consisting of ultrathin nanosheets with [001] facet exposed

• Hongxia Wang,
• Meinan Liu,
• Cheng Yan and
• John Bell

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 378–387, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.44

• also observed after TiCl4 treatment. The synergistic effect of the variation of the TiO2 conduction band and the electron recombination determined the open-circuit voltage of the DSC. Keywords: dye-sensitized solar cells; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; electron recombination; TiO2 [001] facet

• [001] and [101] facets of TiO2 are expected to have a profound effect on the chemicophysical processes in DSCs as well. Fan et al. reported that the [001] surface can absorb more dye molecules compared to the [101] surface [10]. However, the influence of the TiO2 [001] facet on the kinetics of electron

• transfer and back reaction has not been reported. A deep understanding of the role of the TiO2 [001] facet in these key processes of electron transport and recombination of DSCs is of great importance for both practical applications and basic research. In this work, anatase TiO2 spheres with a hierarchical