Influence of dye dispersion on photoelectric conversion properties of dye-containing titania electrodes

Dye-dispersing titania electrodes were prepared from the dye-containing titanium alkoxide sols by a room temperature sol–gel process and steam treatment at 110 °C. The spectroscopic and photoelectric conversion properties of the electrodes were investigated in order to clarify the influences of the dye dispersion and the co-dispersion of the two dyes on the electron transfer process. The fluorescein and eosin Y molecules were dispersed into the titania as their monomers. The shapes of the photocurrent action spectra of the fluorescein and/or eosin Y-dispersing titania electrodes corresponded well to those of their absorption spectra because the excited electrons in the dyes were directly injected into the titania conduction band without any interaction between the dye molecules, such as energy transfer. This result indicated that the dye molecules were separately encapsulated in the pores between the titania nanoparticles and tightly adsorbed or bonded to the titania particle surface. The internal quantum efficiency of the photoelectric conversion was higher than that of the conventional dye-adsorbing titania electrodes in which the dye molecules were easily aggregated and thus deactivated by the energy transfer. The co-dispersion of the two dyes on the titania surface allowed effective extension of the visible light region for the photoelectric conversion.