Electrospun TiO 2 nanofibers for metal free indoline dye sensitized solar cells

In this study, TiO2 nanofibers (NFs) have been synthesized by a simple and cost-effective electrospinning method. The diameter of TiO2 NFs has been controlled by varying the feed rate from 0.5 to 1.5 ml h−1. The synthesized NFs are studied for their morphological, optical, structural and compositional properties. The surface morphological analysis of the TiO2 NFs revealed that the feed rate is playing a key role in order to control the diameter. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the formation of anatase TiO2 with the tetragonal crystal structure. The compositional analysis showed the formation of pristine TiO2 NFs. Further, the mp-TiO2 and TiO2 NFs paste were prepared and deposited on FTO substrate via doctor blade method and successfully used as a photoanode for indoline (DN350) dye DSSCs. Our optimized devices showed highest 3.92% PCE with JSC of 9.73 mAcm−2, VOC of 0.650 V and FF of 0.62 for TiO2 NFs prepared at 1.0 ml h−1 feed rate.