Fabrication of TiO2@ZnAl-layered double hydroxide based anode material for dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract

A TiO₂@ZnAl-layered double hydroxide nanocomposite was prepared by the co-precipitation method; then, the product was calcined in order to obtain the TiO₂@MMO nanocomposite. The products were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) technique, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS). The resulting material was employed as a photoanode whose high conversion efficiency, η, in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) in comparison with ZnAl-layered double hydroxide was attributed to the enlargement of the surface area by the nanosize plates and increased adsorption of the dye by TiO₂, which was placed on the nanoplate. It was found that decrease in the thickness of the film (4.72 μm) led to increase in the open-circuit voltage (V_oc), decrease in the recombination rate, and improvement in the efficiency of the dye sensitized solar cell.