Synthesis of nanosized TiO 2 using different molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG) as capping agent and their perfo
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Synthesis of nanosized TiO2 using different molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG) as capping agent and their performance as photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells Shalini Singh 1 & Ishwar Chandra Maurya 1 & Pankaj Srivastava 1 & Lal Bahadur 1 Received: 11 April 2020 / Revised: 14 July 2020 / Accepted: 15 July 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract In this study, synthesis of nanosized TiO2 in which hydrolysis and polycondensation of precursor, Ti(OC4H9)4, has been performed in presence of different molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymer as a capping agent is reported. Three different capped materials (TN-P400, TN-P4000, and TN-P8000) were synthesized along with un-capped TiO2 (TiO2 synthesized without using PEG, TN) for the sake of comparison. The structure and morphology of the synthesized TiO2 were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, and DLS analyses. The X-ray diffraction spectrums show the presence of anatase phase TiO2. The as-synthesized PEG-capped TiO2 were used as photoanode material for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) after coating with sensitizer dye N719, and photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.52%, under the illumination of 100 mW cm−2, has been achieved with TN-P8000, which was much improved compared with DSSC performance with un-capped TiO2 (PCE = 1.02%). EIS analyses revealed that TN-P8000 photoanode–based cell exhibited facile charge transfer, enhanced electron lifetime, and greater charge collection efficiency that contributed better photovoltaic performance. The results demonstrated that using PEG as a capping agent is a potential approach for improving the efficiency of DSSC and current conversion efficiency was increased as the molecular weight of PEG was increased. Keywords DSSC . PEG . TiO2 photoanode . Capping agent
Introduction Considering global warming and many adverse effects of fossil fuels, renewable sources of energy have been appreciated and adopted worldwide [1]. Considering the potentials of the energy of solar radiation received on earth, numerous research works have been done to utilize the solar energy, which led to various types of solar cells [2]. Among these, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are identified as a good option to the conventional silicon-based photovoltaic cells due to their low cost, ease of fabrication, environment amiability, and better outcome performance even under low incident light intensities [3–6]. The necessary components of DSSC are semiconductor photoanode, a photo-sensitizer, a counter electrode (frequently Pt or C), and
* Pankaj Srivastava [email protected] 1
Department of Chemistry, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, 221005, Varanasi, India
electrolyte (iodide/tri-iodide). Many attempts have been made during the past few decades to increase the efficiency and stability of DSSC by working on these key components. This included the use of new synthetic molecules possessing a wider range of light absorption capacity and semiconductor nanostruc
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