Fabrication of Ni-doped TiO_2 thin film photoelectrode for solar cells

摘要

TiO_2 and Ni-doped TiO_2 thin films have been prepared by sol-gel dip coating method. X-ray diffraction studies show that TiO_2 and Ni-doped nanocrystalline TiO_2 thin films are of anatase phase. The surface morphology of CdS quantum dot sensitized TiO_2 thin film and CdS quantum dot sensitized Ni-doped TiO_2 thin film were analysed by scanning electron microscopy. The absorption edge of TiO_2 thin films shift towards longer wavelengths (i.e. red shifted) with Ni doping, which greatly enhances the light absorption of TiO_2 in the visible region. The power conversion efficiency of CdS quantum dot sensitized Ni-doped TiO_2 (CdS QDS-NT) based solar cell exhibited an efficiency of 1.33%, which is higher than that of CdS quantum dot sensitized TiO_2 (CdS QDS-T) (0.98%) solar cells.