A convenient route to high area, nanoparticulate TiO2 photoelectrodes suitable for high-efficiency energy conversion in dye-sensitized solar cells.

Ethanol-soluble amphiphilic TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs) of average diameter ∼9 nm were synthesized, and an α-terpineol-based TiO(2) paste was readily prepared from them in comparatively few steps. When used for fabrication of photoelectrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the paste yielded highly transparent films and possessing greater-than-typical, thickness-normalized surface areas. These film properties enabled the corresponding DSSCs to produce high photocurrent densities (17.7 mA cm(-2)) and a comparatively high overall light-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency (9.6%) when deployed with the well-known ruthenium-based molecular dye, N719. These efficiencies are about ∼1.4 times greater than those obtained from DSSCs containing photoelectrodes derived from a standard commercial source of TiO(2) paste.