Highly ordered and vertically oriented TiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 nanotube electrodes for application in dye-sensitized solar cells

The surface of long TiO 2 nanotube (NT) electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was modified without post-annealing by using atomic layer deposition (ALD) for the enhancement of photovoltage. Vertically oriented TiO 2 NT electrodes with highly ordered and crack-free surface structures over large areas were prepared by a two-step anodization method. The prepared TiO 2 NTs had a pore size of 80 nm, and a length of 23 μ m. Onto these TiO 2 NTs, an Al 2 O 3 shell of a precisely controlled thickness was deposited by ALD. The conformally coated shell layer was confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) of the DSSCs was gradually enhanced as the thickness of the Al 2 O 3 shell of the TiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 NT electrodes was increase...

Jae-Yup Kim, Kyeong-Hwan Lee, Junyoung Shin, Sun Ha Park, Jin Soo Kang, Kyu Seok Han, Myung Mo Sung, Nicola Pinna and Yung-Eun Sung

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