Application of titanium dioxide nanostructures have significantly increased in the past few decades due to their various uses, including production of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), hydrogen storage, hybrid systems and photocatalysts.
According to Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council (INIC), a group of Iranian researchers succeeded in the production of nanostructured titanium dioxide in a research through a simple method without the need for using high pressure or complicated equipment.
There are many methods for the production of titanium dioxide nanostructures such as sol-gel, chemical vapor deposition, hydrothermal and application of ultrasonic waves. Hydrothermal method is more attractive among the abovementioned methods due to its simplicity and the lack of the need for expensive equipment. However, it is still very dangerous to work with autoclave device during the synthesis process. This research presents a very simple method for the synthesis of titanium dioxide nanotubes and nanofibers by changing hydrothermal method.
Titanium dioxide nanotubes have been produced by eliminating autoclave device and by reducing pressure and temperature. According to the researchers, nanotubes with similar shapes can be synthesized through this method by controlling the initial size of the particles.
Titanium dioxide nanotubes have higher charge transfer speed and much more specific area in comparison with spherical titanium dioxide nanoparticles due to their tube-like structure.
Based on the results, the application of these nanostructures increases the efficiency of solar cells due to the high specific area in the sorption of dyes and effective electron transfer to the bed.
Results of the research have been published in Electronic Materials Letters, vol. 11, issue 4, 2015, pp. 625-632.
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