用于提高染料敏化太阳能电池效率的仙人掌状纳米刺光阳极

The surface area for dye adsorption in the photoanode layer is critical in enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). This study reports a novel cactus-like nanothorn structure constructed through the interfacial modification of rutile titanium dioxide nanoflowers (rTiO 2 -NF) by incorporating copper (II) oxide (Cu 2 O). The cactus-like nanothorn photoanode achieved a significantly higher PCE of 8.3% compared to the 2.9% of the unmodified nanoflower structure. This improvement was attributed to the increased short-circuit current ( J SC ), which was promoted by the enhanced dye adsorption surface area and lower charge transfer resistance ( R ct , 2.888 Ω/cm 2 ). A bandgap energy shift from 3.0 eV to 1.96 eV extended the light absorption from UV to the visible-light spectrum. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy confirmed the successful incorporation of a polycrystalline Cu 2 O layer. These results highlighted the potential of incorporating Cu 2 O to transform nanoflower photoanodes into cactus-like nanothorn structures to improve DSSC efficiency.