Behaviors of different dispersers on morphologies of porous TiO₂ films

Abstract

TiO₂ films with nanoparticles dispersed by using three different additives such as acetylacetone, Emulsifier OP-10, and polyethylene glycol, respectively. It is found that for the TiO₂ films produced with appropriate amount of Emulsifier OP-10, there are no reaggregation of TiO₂ nanoparticles with pores of about 5–20 nm. By adding polyethylene glycol, the pore size of the TiO₂ films could be in the range from about 50 to 200 nm. However, by using acetylacetone, aggregations of TiO₂ nanoparticles always exist in the TiO₂ films. The related mechanism on the aggregation of nanoparticles in the TiO₂ slurries is discussed.

Keywords

dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) / porous TiO₂ films / disperser / morphology

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg