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Titanium dioxide nanowires modified tin oxide hollow spheres for dye-sensitized solar cells

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Abstract

Tin oxide (SnO2) hollow spheres modified with titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanowires (NWs) synthesized by sequential hydrothermal reactions were investigated as photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. Not only does the hydrothermal treatment form numerous short TiO2 NWs on the surface of SnO2 spheres, but also passivates the surface of SnO2. Consequently, the specific surface area of the photoanode and dye loading are almost doubled, at the same time the surface defects and charge recombination are both appreciably reduced. As a result, the short-circuit photocurrent density and open-circuit photovoltage both greatly increased. The power conversion efficiency of the solar cells increases from 0.4% to 2.9%.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the “thousands talents” program for pioneer researcher and his innovation team, China. This work was also supported by the National Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 51374029 and 91433102), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in the University (grant number NCET-13-0668), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant number FRF-TP-14-008C1), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant number 2014M550675).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yajie Wang, Chengbin Fei, Rong Zhang & Lixue Guo

  2. National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST), Beijing, 100083, China

    Yajie Wang, Chengbin Fei, Rong Zhang & Lixue Guo

  3. Advanced Material and Technology Institute, University of Science and Technology, Beijing, 100083, China

    Ting Shen & Jianjun Tian

  4. Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Guozhong Cao

  5. National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST), Beijing, 100083, China

    Guozhong Cao

  6. Department of Materials and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195-2120, USA

    Guozhong Cao

Authors
  1. Yajie Wang
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  2. Chengbin Fei
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  4. Lixue Guo
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Correspondence to Jianjun Tian or Guozhong Cao.

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Wang, Y., Fei, C., Zhang, R. et al. Titanium dioxide nanowires modified tin oxide hollow spheres for dye-sensitized solar cells. MRS Communications 6, 226–233 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2016.34

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