TiO₂ porous electrodes with hierarchical branched inner channels for charge transport in viscous electrolytes

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) photoelectrodes with micro/nano hierarchical branched inner channels have been prepared by an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) technique and assembled to form dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Excellent penetration of ionic-liquid electrolytes and enhanced light harvesting in the longer wavelength region are realized within the composite-structure electrode, thus a better fill factor (ff) of 75.3 % and higher conversion efficiency (η) of 7.1 % are obtained for viscous ionic-liquid electrolytes compared to pure nanostructured films. Hierarchical branched channels in the photoanodes can efficiently improve the transport properties of redox-active species in viscous electrolytes, which is demonstrated by electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The incident monochromatic photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) shows that enhanced light scattering in the composite film is of benefit for light harvesting and thus for solar energy conversion efficiency.