On the synthesis of nanostructured TiO2 anatase phase and the development of the photoelectrochemical solar cell

Unlike the rutile; the anatase phase of TiO2 has not been extensively employed for fabrication of PEC cells primarily due to the difficulty in the synthesis of a stable anatase structural variant. The present investigation is focused on the synthesis of the anatase phase and its use as a photoelectrode of high efficiency PEC Solar Cells. TiO2, in the nanostructured form, has been prepared by the hydrolysis of Titanium (IV) isopropoxide solution. The nanostructured TiO2 (anatase) stable phase has been synthesised by sintering the synthesised film at similar to 500 degrees C with a heating rate of 1 degrees C/min for a duration of 3 h in argon. The films of nanostructured TiO2 anatase phase have been used as photoelectrodes in PEC solar cells. An improvement in TiO2(ns) anatase phase photoelectrode carried out in the present work corresponds to admiring In2O3 to improve the spectral response. It has been found that admiring In2O3 with TiO2(ns) anatase phase improves the solar spectral response. The structural, microstructural, optical, and photoelectrochemical properties of the TiO2(ns) anatase phase and TiO2(ns) anatase-In2O3 photoelectrode have been studied. The response of TiO2(ns) anatase phase bearing photoelectrode based PEC solar cell corresponds to V-oc approximate to 460 mV, I-SC approximate to 2.4 mA/cm(2) and for its In2O3 doped version, these are V-OC approximate to 640 mV and I-SC approximate to 10.4 mA/cm(2). (C) 1999 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.