The Effect of Annealing on the Photoconductivity of Carbon Nanofiber/TiO2 Core-Shell Nanowires for Use in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Electrical transport properties and photoresponse of individual TiO2-coated carbon nanofibers were studied in an attempt to elucidate the limiting factors of core-shell nanowire-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The role of the semiconductor shell microstructure was investigated by comparing as grown and thermally annealed samples. Steady state I-V and transient photoconductivity measurements suggest that improving the microstructure leads to reduced resistivity and contact resistance, a decrease in charge traps, improved surface stoichiometry for dye adsorption, and reduced absorption of visible light by the semiconductor, all of which may improve nanowire-based DSSC performance.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 26, 2010
Accession Number
ADA595965

Entities

People

  • Caitlin Rochford
  • Javier Baca
  • Jianwei Liu
  • Judy Z. Wu
  • Jun Li
  • Zhuang-zhi Li

Organizations

  • University of Kansas

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Adsorption
  • Cells
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemistry
  • Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
  • Electron Density
  • Electrons
  • Films
  • High Resolution
  • Materials Science
  • Nanoparticles
  • Physics
  • Semiconductors
  • Solar Cells
  • Steady State
  • Thin Films
  • Transport Properties

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Microelectronics