Photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells using TiO2 nanotubes aggregates produced by hydrothermal synthesis

This paper reports the synthesis, detailed structural characterization of aggregated TiO2 nanotubes and the application of such aggregated TiO2 nanotubes as photoelectrodes in solar cells (dye sensitized DSCs). A maximum overall conversion efficiency of 7.9% has been achieved, which use conventional dyes without any additional chemical treatments under circumstances of an open-circuit voltage of 710 mV, a short-circuit current density of 16.8 mA/cm(2), and a fill factor of 66%. This impressive performance is believed to attribute to the micron-sized aggregate structure which may be favorable for light harvesting, the desired high specific surface area and pure anatase phase for dye absorption. This significant improvement in the conversion efficiency indicates that DSCs based on aggregated TiO2 nanotubes are a promising alternative to semiconductor-based solar cells.