Effect of optical property of surfactant-treated TiO2 nanostructure on the performance of TiO2 photo-electrochemical cell

TiO2 nanostructures have been treated using different kind of surfactant to modify its optical absorption and morphology. TiO2 nanostructures were prepared via simple method on indium tin oxide (ITO) surface, namely, liquid-phase deposition technique (LPD) at 50A degrees C. The TiO2 nanostructures film with a thickness of about 236 nm was annealed at 400A degrees C for 1 h in the air to enhance the interconnectivity of the particles. The dense and compact TiO2 nanoparticle with different shape, particle size and surface morphology was used as a photovoltaic material in a photo-electrochemical cell of ITO/TiO2/electrolyte/platinum. TiO2 nanostructure films were treated with three different kinds of surfactants: cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). It was found that the film treated with HMT performed best, with a J (sc) of 57.5 mu A/cm(2). In conclusion, optical absorption, band gap and grain size of TiO2 nanostructure influenced the performance of the cell.