Electrospun Nanofiber Mats with Embedded Non-Sintered TiO₂ for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs)

TiO₂ is a semiconductor that is commonly used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). However, the necessity of sintering the TiO₂ layer is usually problematic due to the desired temperatures of typically 500 °C in cells that are prepared on polymeric or textile electrodes. This is why textile-based DSSCs often use metal fibers or metallic woven fabrics as front electrodes on which the TiO₂ is coated. Alternatively, several research groups investigate the possibilities to reduce the necessary sintering temperatures by chemical or other pre-treatments of the TiO₂. Here, we report on a simple method to avoid the sintering step by using a nanofiber mat as a matrix embedding TiO₂ nanoparticles. The TiO₂ layer can be dyed with natural dyes, resulting in a similar bathochromic shift of the UV/Vis spectrum, as it is known from sintered TiO₂ on glass substrates, which indicates an equivalent chemical bonding. Our results indicate a new possibility for producing textile-based DSSCs with TiO₂, even on textile fabrics that are not high-temperature resistant. View Full-Text