N-doped mesoporous titania as a photoelectrochemical working electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

Nanocrystalline titania (Non-Meso TiO₂), mesoporous titania (Meso TiO₂) and nitrogen-doped mesoporous titania (N-doped Meso TiO₂) were synthesized via a simple evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) process. The obtained materials were thoroughly characterized by various spectroscopic and analytical techniques, including small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS) analysis. Among all prepared photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the N-doped Meso TiO₂ photoanodes showed the maximum conversion efficiency with an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.75 V, a short circuit density (Jsc) of 11.07 mA cm^-2 a fill factor (FF) of 63%, and an efficiency of 5.3%. This may be attributed to the formation of O-Ti-N linkage in the N-doped Meso TiO₂ electrode, retarding the recombination reaction at the interface of TiO₂ photoelectrode and electrolyte as compared to the Non-Meso TiO₂ and Meso TiO₂ DSSCs.