Phthalocyanine-Sensitized Nanostructured TiO2 Electrodes Prepared by a Novel Anchoring Method

A novel method for anchoring phthalocyanines substituted with ester groups onto nanostructured TiO2 films is described. Such phthalocyanines did not adsorb on nanostructured TiO2 film by the ordinary methods. In the authors' new method, the TiO2 film is pretreated with Me3COLi to change the surface hydroxyl groups (-OH) into oxygen anions (-O-), thus making the surface more reactive toward the ester functionalities of the dye. The dye can then be anchored onto the semiconductor surface through the produced carboxylate group(s). The amt. of anchored dye on the semiconductor shows a dependence on both the time of base treatment and the time of dye treatment. Electrodes treated with the free base phthalocyanine and zinc phthalocyanine were characterized by absorption spectroscopy, photocurrent action spectroscopy, and photocurrent-photovoltage measurements. The homogeneous blue-green color and the absorption bands in the far-red region are indicative of an attachment of the dye on TiO2 film. A monochromatic incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency of 4.3% was achieved at 690 nm for a cell where the base-treated electrode was treated with ZnPcBu.