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Hydrothermal Synthesis of TiO2 Nanotubes and Preparation of Paste Using Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a Binder for The Photoanode of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs)

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Abstract

The morphology of photoanode materials strongly affects the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells. TiO2 nanoparticles possess excellent dye adsorption capability. However, they show low electrical conductivity. Moreover, the penetration of electrolyte into pores of mesoporous TiO2 also promotes recombination reaction. In this work, one-dimensional TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs) have been synthesized by the hydrothermal method. The synthesis was carried out at a hydrothermal temperature of 150 °C and then annealed at 600 °C. The TiO2 nanotubes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The photoanode was prepared by depositing TNTs on the conductive glass substrates in the paste form and then annealed at 450 °C. Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) acts as a binder and its amount was optimized in the paste for the best Photovoltaics performance of solar cell. The DSSC with TNTs based photoanode showed higher efficiency (7.53%) compared to the TiO2 nanoparticles-based device (5.88%).

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support provided by PPE department, UET Lahore.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polymer and Process Engineering (PPE) Department, UET, Lahore, Pakistan

    Falak Babar, Umer Mehmood, Rabia Nazar, Yasir Qayyum Gill, Hamza Khalid, Noor ul Huda & Zaira Fatima

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  1. Falak Babar
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  2. Umer Mehmood
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  3. Rabia Nazar
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  4. Yasir Qayyum Gill
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  5. Hamza Khalid
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  6. Noor ul Huda
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  7. Zaira Fatima
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Correspondence to Umer Mehmood.

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Babar, F., Mehmood, U., Nazar, R. et al. Hydrothermal Synthesis of TiO2 Nanotubes and Preparation of Paste Using Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a Binder for The Photoanode of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs). Arab J Sci Eng 47, 6379–6383 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-06362-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-06362-4

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