Nanostructured TiO/sub 2/ for solar energy conversion

Abstract

Wide band gap semiconductors are efficient in photo-electrochemical cells included in solar energy conversion systems: photovoltaic cell, photo-catalysts for hydrogen production via water splitting or for pollutants degradation; nanostructured TiO2 (anatase) can be used in all of these applications, with a careful control of the properties; the challenge is to identify a technique, reliable and up-scalable that allows tailoring anatase according to the requirements; the paper presents the results in obtaining TiO2 with various morphologies by using spray pyrolysis deposition (SPD) and discusses upon the performances of a virtual prototype for a laboratory automatic SPD installation