Photovoltaic Property of Anatase TiO₂ 3-D Mesoflowers

Abstract

We have synthesized 3-D flower-like mesostructured TiO2 from one-dimensional electrospun TiO2–SiO2 nanocomposites through a modified titanate route for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) application. The TiO2 3-D mesoflowers with commendable internal surface area, crystallinity, and a good light scattering property satisfy the prerequisites of a DSC photoanode material. The starting TiO2–SiO2 composite, intermediate titanate, and final 3-D mesoflowered TiO2 were characterized by spectroscopy, microscopy, and surface area measurements. A DSC employing 3-D mesoflowered TiO2 as the photoanode showed a power conversion efficiency of 8.3% which was 23% higher than that of commercial P-25 (6.37%).