Sol-Gel Derived ZnO Nanorod Templated TiO₂ Nanotube Synthesis for Natural Dye Sensitized Solar Cell

Abstract:

Natural dye sensitized solar cells (nDSSC) mostly suffer from low solar cell performance, that vertically aligned nanotube TiO₂ as the photoanode is expected to increase the performance by providing higher surface area and direct electron transport. Nanostructured TiO₂ films have been fabricated on glass substrates employing ZnO nanorod films as the template. First, vertically oriented ZnO nanorod on a glass substrate was prepared hydrothermally. Then, sol-gel dip-coating technique was used to deposit TiO₂. The template films were dip-coated into sols of titanium tetraisopropoxide-ethanol-diethanol ammine with withdrawing rate of 2 cm/min for three- (Ti3) and seven-times (Ti7). After drying at 100 °C for 10 min, the films were calcined at 550 °C for 1h and washed with HCl 3% (v/v). The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). It is observed that different coating cycles resulted in different film morphologies. Nanotube TiO₂ with diameter of ~50 nm was identified for Ti3, while Ti7 displayed sheet-like structure. The diffraction patterns confirmed the presence of only anatase crystalline phase with crystallite size of 10.3 nm (Ti3) and 21.7 nm (Ti7). The dye absorption was red-shifted indicating dye monomeric adsorption on TiO₂ via chelation. Enhanced absorption of anthocyanin dye extracted from pericarps of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana l.) fruit on TiO₂ nanotube compared to TiO₂ nanoparticle (P25) was observed leading to improved photovoltaic performance of the constructed nDSSC.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 896)
• Pages: 485-488
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.896.485
• Online since: February 2014
• Authors: Indriana Kartini*, Evana Evana, Sutarno Sutarno, Chotimah Chotimah
• Keywords: Mangosteen Dye, Solar Cell, Template Sol-Gel, TiO₂ Nanotube, ZnO Nanorod

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