Fabrication of novel Ag-TiO2 nanobelts as a photoanode for enhanced photovoltage performance in dye sensitized solar cells

摘要

TiO2 nanobelts (TiO(2)NBs) were successfully prepared using a solvothermal route via Ti foil as substrate in large scales. The morphology evolution process and formation mechanism of the as-obtained products were investigated in detail. On the basis of this novel structure, chemical sensitive Ag modified TiO(2)NBs nanocomposites (Ag-TiO(2)NBs) were fabricated. It was found that Ag-TiO(2)NBs exhibit strong light absorption and efficient electron transport. According to Mott-Schottky analysis, Ag-TiO(2)NBs show less surface trapping sites compared with TiO(2)NBs. The Ag-TiO(2)NBs photoanode fabricated in 0.01 M AgNO3 demonstrates the best performance with a short-circuit current of 11.9 mA cm(-2) corresponding to a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 4.89%, which is higher than that of pure TiO(2)NBs based solar cell by 60%. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.