Hydrothermal synthesis of nanofibers from natural ilmenite mineral and their utilization for dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract

Titanate nanofibers were synthesized by a hydrothermal method using a low-cost ilmenite mineral as the starting material. The crystalline structure of the as-synthesized nanofibers demonstrated titanate structure (H 2TixO2x+1). The bi-crystalline mixture consisting of TiO2 (B) and anatase TiO2 nanofibers was obtained by heat treatment at 500°C for 2 h. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with photoanode consisting of the nanocomposite of nanoparticles and nanofibers (5%) rendered a light-to-electricity conversion efficiency (η) of 0.28%. In contrast, the cells with photoanodes consisting of only nanoparticles and nanofibers exhibited η of 0.25% and 0.15%, respectively. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.