TiO2 nanorings were synthesized using the polystyrene nanospheres of 85 nm prepared by micro-emulsion polymerization as template. The result TiO2 nanorings were characterized by FE-SEM and XRD. Results showed that the inner diameter of the TiO2 nanorings matched size of the polystyrene nanospheres used, and the thickness with nanometer size depended on that of the TiO2 gel coated on the PS surface.
SnO2 nanosheet films about 200 nm in thickness are successfully fabricated on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass by a facile solution-grown approach. The prepared SnO2 nanosheet film is applied as an interfacial layer between the nanocrystalline TiO2 film and the FTO substrate in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Experimental results show that the introduction of a SnO2 nanosheet film not only suppresses the electron back-transport reaction at the electrolyte/FTO interface but also provides an efficient electron transition channel along the SnO2 nanosheets, and as a result, increasing the open circuit voltage and short current density, and finally improving the conversion efficiency for the DSCs from 3.89% to 4.62%.
