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Self-Organization in Nanoparticle Titanium Dioxide Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

S.D. Burnside
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH- 1015 Lausanne SWITZERLAND
V. Shklover
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH- 1015 Lausanne SWITZERLAND
C.A. Barbe
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH- 1015 Lausanne SWITZERLAND
K. Brooks
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH- 1015 Lausanne SWITZERLAND
P. Comte
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH- 1015 Lausanne SWITZERLAND
F. Arendse-Duriaux
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH- 1015 Lausanne SWITZERLAND
M. Jirousek
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH- 1015 Lausanne SWITZERLAND
M. Graetzel
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH- 1015 Lausanne SWITZERLAND
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Abstract

Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide has been synthesized using a sol-gel technique followed by hydrothermal growth at temperatures in the range 190-270°C. Thin films of these colloids were studied using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen adsorption/desorption. Self-organization of the nanocrystalline particles in regular arrays was observed in films made from colloids autoclaved at lower temperatures. We present herein initial photovoltaic performance of these semiconducting films used as working electrodes in a dye-sensitized solar cell.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1998

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References

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