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Triblock copolymer-assisted construction of 20 nm-sized ytterbium-doped TiO2 hollow nanostructures for enhanced solar energy utilization efficiency

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Abstract

Rare-earth doped titania single-crystalline hollow nanoparticles of 20 nm are constructed via a simple sol-gel process. Amphiphilic ABA tri-block copolymers played a key role in assisting the formation of hollow structure, for which a hollow nanostructure growth mechanism is proposed. By introducing rare earth into the synthesis process, the as-prepared nanoparticles exhibit near-infrared light absorption properties. Photo-decomposition efficiency of Orange II azo dye can be successfully evaluated when using Yb3+-doped TiO2 hollow nanoparticles as photocatalysts; it is more than two times higher than the pure TiO2 hollow nanoparticles. The hollow nanostructured Yb3+-doped TiO2 samples are exploited as photoanodes in N719-sensitized solar cells and prove able to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency by measuring the solar cell parameters of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) under simulative sunlight.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Biology and Medicine, Ministry of Education; College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Lin Cheng, Xuefeng Xu, Yuyan Fang, Yan Li, Jiaxi Wang, Guojia Wan, Xueying Ge, Liangjie Yuan, Keli Zhang & Quan Yuan

  2. Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures, Ministry of Education; Department of Physics, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Lin Cheng & Lei Liao

Authors
  1. Lin Cheng
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  2. Xuefeng Xu
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  3. Yuyan Fang
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  4. Yan Li
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  5. Jiaxi Wang
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  7. Xueying Ge
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  8. Liangjie Yuan
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  9. Keli Zhang
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  11. Quan Yuan
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Correspondence to Lei Liao or Quan Yuan.

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Cheng, L., Xu, X., Fang, Y. et al. Triblock copolymer-assisted construction of 20 nm-sized ytterbium-doped TiO2 hollow nanostructures for enhanced solar energy utilization efficiency. Sci. China Chem. 58, 850–857 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-014-5237-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-014-5237-1

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