Hexagonal TiO2 microplates with superior light scattering for dye-sensitized solar cells

Anatase TiO2 microplates with hexagonal shape were synthesized by a hydrothermal method in water–ethanol solvent. The single-crystalline TiO2 microplate film exhibited high reflectance in the visible region due to the unique planar morphology. When used as the scattering overlayer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), such microplates effectively enhanced light harvesting and led to the increase of the photocurrent of the DSCs. As a result, a 16.3% improvement in conversion efficiency was achieved after introducing the TiO2 microplate scattering layer (7.91%), which also surpassed the commercial scattering overlayer. The comparative experiments between the microplates and TiO2 microrods further confirmed that such a planar morphology is more beneficial to light scattering and photovoltaic performance. The excellent light-scattering properties of plate-like TiO2 make it a promising candidate as a scattering material for DSCs.