Surface properties of chlorophyll-a sensitized TiO2 nanorods for dye-sensitized solar cells applications
Satish A. Mahadik, Satish A. Mahadik, Hemraj M. Yadav, Sarika S. Mahadik, Sarika S. Mahadik
Abstract
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on TiO2 nanorods have recently achieved improvement by tuning surface polarity with the help of chlorophyll-a dye. Additionally, we have successfully explored the effects of surface free energy, oxygen defect concentration, micro strain, surface morphology, chemical composition, photoluminescence, and surface properties of chlorophyll-a sensitized TiO2 nanorods. Sensitization on TiO2 nanorods has been tested with photoelectrochemical performance, and the resulting surface shows a superhydrophobicity with CA = 154 ± 30 while oxygen defect is reduced to 2.7228 × 1021 cm−3. The surface free energy has been successfully studied with the help of Owens-Wendt-Rabel-Kaelble (OWRK) and the wetting envelope model. A sensitized system of chlorophyll-a and TiO2 nanorods for the DSSC application presents a maximum of 3.69 times PEC improvement under 1000 W light illumination.