Berlin 2008 – scientific programme

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SYSA: Symposium Tayloring Organic Interfaces: Molecular Structures and Applications

SYSA 5: Poster Session SYSA

SYSA 5.54: Poster

Tuesday, February 26, 2008, 14:30–20:00, Poster A

Block-copolymer directed mesoporous TiO2 for solar cell applications — Mihaela Nedelcu¹, •Stefan Guldin^{1, 4}, Sven Hüttner¹, Henry J. Snaith², Jinwoo Lee³, Chris Orillal³, Scott Warren³, Ulrich Wiesner³, and Ullrich Steiner¹ — ¹Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK — ²Department of Physics, University of Oxford, UK — ³Materials Science Department, University of Cornell, Ithaca, USA — ⁴4 Physik Department, Technische Universität München, Garching, D

Nanostructuring metal-oxides through polymer-assisted self-assembly has gained significant interest in the last 10 years for a wide range of applications. Dye-sensitized solar cells, for example, rely on a highly porous, polycrystalline metal-oxide electrode.

In our work we used a Poly(isoprene)-b-Poly(ethylenoxide) (PI-b-PEO) diblock-copolymer as a structure-directing agent for the formation of TiO₂. The block-copolymer phase separates into ordered domains, tens of nanometers in size. Titania precursors were incorporated through a non hydrolytic sol-gel route which swell only the hydrophilic PEO.

During temperature annealing the PI-block forms a carbon scaffold which enables high temperatures for the crystallisation of TiO₂ without loss of the mesostructure. This leads to a nanostructured material with improved crystallinity and a high surface area.

The benefits of these interesting material properties are presented in efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.