Preferential Attachments of Organic Dyes onto {101} Facets of TiO2 Nanoparticles

Hybrid nanostructures of organic dyes/TiO2 nanoparticles were successfully fabricated by self-assembly method. Compared with pure organic dyes, these hybrid nanostructures showed enhanced performance of light absorption. Extensive high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations demonstrated that the organic dyes are preferentially attached onto the {101} facets of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles. Density functional theory calculations further confirmed that the preferential attachments are reasonable. These discoveries are very important for the preparation and improvement of the dye-sensitized and hybrid solar cells.