Polymer–TiO₂solar cells: TiO₂interconnected network for improved cell performance

A titanium dioxide porous network structure was synthesized using a poly(styrene- block -polyethylene oxide) diblock copolymer template. The influence of the titanium precursor concentration and annealing temperature on the obtained morphology was studied. Heterojunction solar cells consisting of TiO 2 porous network structure and poly(2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethyl-hexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-PPV) were fabricated. The influence of the MEH-PPV layer thickness and device architecture on the solar cell performance was investigated. For an optimized device structure, a short-circuit current as high as 3.3 mA cm −2 is obtained under simulated solar illumination with an air mass AM 1.5 filter. The improved higher short-circuit current compared to other reports on MEH-PPV /TiO 2 heterojunction cells can be attributed to improved morphology of the TiO 2 layer.