Improved anatase phase stability in small diameter TiO2 nanotube arrays for high performance dye-sensitized solar cells

Anatase is the preferred phase of TiO2 in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) because of its lower charge recombination than other phases. However, for small diameter nanotubes before detached from the Ti foil, rutile rather than anatase appears upon a pre-treatment annealing at 400 degrees C or above. Here we have fabricated highly ordered free-standing small diameter (50 nm) TiO2 nanotube membranes which were pre-treated at 300 degrees C to maintain pure anatase phase. The free-standing nanotube membranes were used to fabricate the photoanodes and were further calcined at 500 degrees C to achieve full crystallization of the nanotubes. It was shown that the electron lifetime is much longer in the 300 degrees C-pre-treated nanotubes than those pre-treated at 400 or 500 degrees C, leading to a significantly improved power conversion efficiency of 4.59% (enhanced by similar to 50%). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.