Byun, H.Y. and Vittal, R. and Kim, D.Y. and Kim, K.J. (2004) Beneficial Role of Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide in the Enhancement of Photovoltaic Properties of Dye-Sensitized Rutile TiO2 Solar Cells. Langmuir, 20 (16). pp. 6853-6857. ISSN 0743-7463

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Abstract

A new approach involving the introduction of the common cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) for modifying a rutile TiO2 film during its formation from hydrolyzed TiCl4 solution has been adopted, intending to improve the photoelectrochemical properties of the pertinent dye-sensitized solar cell. CTAB-routed films were found to consist of smaller clusters of near-spherical TiO2 particles, compared with larger clusters of long rod-shaped particles in the absence of CTAB. As a consequence, the photocurrent and photovoltage of the cell fabricated by using CTAB have increased significantly, leading to a conversion efficiency increase, compared with those of the cell prepared without CTAB. On the basis of FE-SEM, BET, and XRD analyses, the increases are attributed to decreased particle size, improved interparticle connectivity, and enhanced crystallinity of the CTAB-promoted TiO2 particles and decreased void volume in the film. Faster growth of the TiO2 film was another beneficial effect of CTAB. A mechanism is proposed for the beneficial role of CTAB during the film formation.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Industrial Metal Finishing
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	ttbdu cecri
Date Deposited:	06 Apr 2012 14:12
Last Modified:	06 Apr 2012 14:12
URI:	http://cecri.csircentral.net/id/eprint/988

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