A photoelectrochemical (PEC) method based on the etching reaction of F ions on the surface of TiO2 nanorod arrays (TNRs) was proposed for the high sensitivity and selectivity detection of F ions. With the increase of F ion concentration, the surface etching reaction on TNR becomes more intense, resulting in the increased number of surface active sites, the reduction of electron transfer resistance, and the increase of photocurrent density. The prepared TNRs as a PEC probe exhibits a good linear relationship between photocurrent increment and the logarithm of F ion concentration in the range from 0.05 to 1000 nM with an ultra-trace detection limit of 0.03 nM for F ion detection.
We report a simple and low-cost approach to enhance the longstanding stability of the perovskite solar cell (PSC) through the application of low-temperature grown SnO 2 nanorod (NR) arrays. SnO 2 NR arrays were fabricated by an aqueous synthesis method in the presence of hydrochloric acid and using thin compact SnO 2 as seeds. The influence of HCl concentration on the photovoltaic (PV) performance of the SnO 2 NR array based PSC device was investigated. The formed crystalline SnO 2 nanorods with square transversal-sections were oriented on the FTO facets in a well-defined and perpendicular fashion at an optimal HCl concentration. The optimized width and length for SnO 2 nanorods were 30 nm and 150 nm, respectively. Consequently, efficient and stable SnO 2 nanorod based perovskite devices were obtained with an average power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.57%. The SnO 2 nanorod array based PSCs demonstrated considerably better ultraviolet (UV) and ambient air stability than the planar SnO 2 and notably mesoporous TiO 2 solar cells. This paper provides a prospective scheme to grow high-quality three-dimensional SnO 2 nanorod arrays for highly stable and efficient PSCs.
Crystalline yttrium-doped rutile TiO 2 nanorod arrays were synthesized and successfully implemented as a photoanode of perovskite solar cells . Study shows that yttrium was successfully doped and TiO 2 band gap changes from 3.07 eV to 3.02 eV. A positive shift of 100 mV in the flat-band potential (V fb ) was observed in Y-doped rutile TiO 2 nanorods. A power conversion efficiency of 7.95% and a photocurrent density of 15.13 mA/cm 2 were obtained for the doped sample. The photocurrent density is 1.47 times higher than that of the un-doped device. Incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency shows Y-doped device has a clear increase in quantum efficiency in the visible light range from 450 and 750 nm. Open circuit voltage decay measurements demonstrate the superior ability of Y-doped TiO 2 nanorod for separating electrons and holes and decreasing the recombination events. The improved performance is possibly attributed to the enhanced electron injection and transfer efficiency caused by a positive shift in V fb and a reduction in charge recombination. This study opens a door toward the improvement of photocurrent density of perovskite solar cell via an element doping route.