Influence of lithium and lanthanum treatment on TiO2 nanofibers and their application in n‐i‐p solar cells
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The addition of cations to TiO2 photoelectrodes is routinely accepted as a route to enhance the performance of conventional n‐i‐p solar cells. However, this is typically achieved in multiple steps or by the incorporation of expensive and hydroscopic cationic precursors such as lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide. In addition, it is often unclear as to whether the incorporation of such cation sources is inducing “doping” or simply transformed into cationic oxides on the surface of the photoelectrodes. In this study, TiO2 nanofibers were produced through a simple electrospinning technique and modified by introducing lithium and lanthanum precursors in one step. Our results show that the addition of both cations caused minimal substitutional or interstitial doping of TiO2. Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller measurements showed that lanthanum‐treated TiO2 nanofibers had an increase in surface area, which even exceeded that of TiO2 P25 nanoparticles. Finally, treated and untreated TiO2 nanofibers were used in n‐i‐p solar cells. Photovoltaic characteristics revealed that lanthanum treatment was beneficial, whereas lithium treatment was found to be detrimental to the device performance for both dye‐sensitized and perovskite solar cells. The results discuss new fundamental understandings for two of the commonly incorporated cationic dopants in TiO2 photoelectrodes, lithium and lanthanum, and present a significant step forward in advancing the field of materials chemistry for photovoltaics.
Date Issued
2019-07-15
Date Acceptance
2019-04-01
Citation
ChemElectroChem, 2019, 6 (14), pp.3590-3598
ISSN
2196-0216
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
3590
End Page
3598
Journal / Book Title
ChemElectroChem
Volume
6
Issue
14
Copyright Statement
© 2019 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. This is the accepted version of the following article: F. Ambroz, S. Sathasivam, R. Lee, S. Gadipelli, C.-T. Lin, S. Xu, R. K. Poduval, M. A. Mclachlan, I. Papakonstantinou, I. P. Parkin, T. J. Macdonald, ChemElectroChem 2019, 6, 3590, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/celc.201900532
Identifier
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/celc.201900532
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Electrochemistry
doping
TiO2
nanofibers
solar cells
perovskite
OPTICAL-PROPERTIES
ENERGY-CONVERSION
EFFICIENCY
PERFORMANCE
RECOMBINATION
NANOPARTICLES
PHOTOANODES
ANATASE
SURFACE
CARBON
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2019-04-29