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Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Master's report
Degree Name
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MS)
College, School or Department Name
Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
First Advisor
Jeffrey S. Allen
Co-Advisor
Yun Hang Hu
Abstract
Titanium oxide is an important semiconductor, which is widely applied for solar cells. In this research, titanium oxide nanotube arrays were synthesized by anodization of Ti foil in the electrolyte composed of ethylene glycol containing 2 vol % H2O and 0.3 wt % NH4F. The voltages of 40V-50V were employed for the anodizing process. Pore diameters and lengths of the TiO2 nanotubes were evaluated by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The obtained highly-ordered titanium nanotube arrays were exploited to fabricate photoelectrode for the Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCS). The TiO2 nanotubes based DSSCS exhibited an excellent performance with a high short circuit current and open circuit voltage as well as a good power conversion efficiency. Those can be attributed to the high surface area and one dimensional structure of TiO2 nanotubes, which could hold a large amount of dyes to absorb light and help electron percolation process to hinder the recombination during the electrons diffusion in the electrolyte.
Recommended Citation
Zhao, Yiqian, "Preparation of highly-ordered TiO₂ nanotube arrays and their applications in Dye-sensitized solar cells", Master's report, Michigan Technological University, 2012.