(546e) Electrochemical Studies On Porous Titania Electrodes for Photovoltaics

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) use porous titania photoanodes to convert solar energy to usable work. Traditionally, the titania electrode is a randomly connected network of titania nanoparticles. This configuration maximizes the surface area for dye-adhesion, which in turn maximizes the amount of energy harnessed. Our approach to improving the efficiency of the DSSC is to minimize recombination events, which is done by introducing order to the titania electrode. Our electrode is made of titania inverse opals with pore sizes on the order of 100s nm, compared to <20 nm in the DSSCs that are currently in the market. Our configuration avoids incomplete filling of the pores, which improves the electron transfer across the interface and reduces recombination events. We have used classic electrochemistry techniques like CV(cyclic voltammetry), EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy), and CA (chronoamperometry) to characterize our electrodes. Previously, we have shown that charge density is inversely proportional with pore size in our system. This presentation discusses diffusion and electron transfer data for the inverse opal titania electrode.