Influence of Yb-Doped Nanoporous TiO2 Films on Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Yb-doped TiO2 pastes with different Yb/TiO2 weight ratios are prepared in the sol-gel process to obtain dyesensitized solar cells （DSCs）. The nanocrystalline size of Yb-TiO2 becomes smaller and the lattice parameters change. Lattice distortion is observed and dark current is detected. It is found that a part of Yb existing as insulating oxide Yb2O3 state acts as barrier layers at the electrode-electrolyte interface to suppress charge recombination. A Yb-doped TiO2 electrode applied in DSCs leads to a higher open-circuit voltage and a higher fill factor. How the Yb-doped TiO2 films affect the photovoltaic response of DSCs is discussed.

Preconcentration and Separation of Trace Copper in Water Samples with Nanometer-Size TiO_2 Colloid and Determination by FAAS

A new absorbent of nanometer-size TiO2 colloid for Cu（Ⅱ ） was studied in this work. The adsorption rate could reach above 99% when the pH values were at the range of 5-6. The adsorption balance time, adsorption capacities, and the eluent were investigated. A novel method of trace Cu（ Ⅱ ） preconcentration and separation with nanometer-size titanium dioxide colloid and determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry （FAAS） was advanced. The detection limit （3a） of the method was 1.15 μg · L^-1, and the relative standard deviation （R.S.D） was 1.53% （n=6）. Environmental sample experiments were also conducted to test the feasibility of the method, and it came out that the recovery rates were between 95.9% and 97.8%.

Preconcentration of Ultra-trace Cadmium with Nanometer-size TiO_2 Colloid and Determination by GFAAS with Slurry Sampling

A novel method of ultra-trace Cd（Ⅱ） preconcentration with nanometer-size TiO2 colloid and determination by graphite furnace atomic adsorption spectrometry（GFAAS） with slurry sampling was first advanced in this paper. The adsorption efficiency of nanometer-size TiO2 colloid for ultra-trace Cd（Ⅱ） could reach above 96% in a short time when the pH value was between 5 and 6. Other problems were also studied, such as adsorption capacity, nanometer-size TiO2 colloid dosage, effect of coexistent ions. The detection limit（3σ） and the relative standard deviation （R.S.D） of this method were 4.46.103 μg/L and 1.30%（n=7）, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of environmental samples with recoveries between 93.8% and 96.4%.

Templated self-assembly of Au-TiO_2 binary nanoparticles-nanotubes

In this work, we developed a templated self-assembly approach to fabricate self-supporting Au/TiO2 binary nanoparticles-nanotubes （NPNTs） for the first time. The stable Au/TiO2 nanoparticles colloids were pre-synthesized and then deposited onto an AAO template, following by a mild calcination process. Au/TiO2 binary NPNTs can be achieved after removing the AAO template by NaOH solution. In addition, Au/TiO2 NPNTs with different thicknesses and size distributions could be achieved by tailoring the process parameters, such as the molar ratio of AuNPs to TiO2NPs, deposition modes and calcinations conditions. Therefore, these findings made controllable formation of Au/TiO2 NPNTs attractive for promising fabrication methodologies of metal/metal oxides NPNTs.