Photoelectrochemical solar cell based on surfactant mediated rutile TiO_2 nanorods

摘要

Rutile titanium dioxide nanorods have been synthesized by a simple and cost-effective hydrothermal deposition method onto the conducting glass substrates. In order to study the effect of surfactants on the growth of TiO_2, different surfactants like ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, polyvinylpyrrolidone, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) are used. These films are characterized for their morphological, structural, compositional, optical and electrochemical properties using field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, photolumines-cence and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. FE-SEM images showed the formation of densely packed nanorods for SDS mediated TiO_2. XRD patterns show the formation of polycrystalline TiO_2 with the tetragonal crystal structure possessing rutile phase. The chemical composition and valence states of the constituent elements were analysed by XPS. The films were photo-electrochemically active with the maximum current density of 378 μA/cm~2 with enhanced photovoltage of 615 mV for the sample prepared with SDS surfactant.