Roles of Interfacial Modifiers in Inorganic Titania/Organic Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Heterojunction Hybrid Solar Cells.

Hybrid Titanium dioxide/Poly(3-hexylthiophene) heterojunction solar cells have gained research interest as they have the potential to become cost-effective solar technology in the future. Limited power conversion efficiencies of about 5-6% have been reported so far, and an enhancement in efficiency was achieved through the engineering of the interface between Titanium dioxide (TiO2) and Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). Evolution of this solar cell technology is relatively slow-moving due to the complex features of the metal oxide-polymer system and the limited understanding of the technology. In this review, we focus on recent developments in interface modified hybrid Titanium dioxide/Poly(3-hexylthiophene) solar cells, provide a short discussion on the working principle, device structure with interface modifiers, and summarize various types of interface modifiers studied to enhance the photovoltaic performance of hybrid TiO2/P3HT heterojunction solar cells. Further, we discuss the key factors influencing the power conversion efficiency and the role of a variety of interface modifiers in this regard. Finally, the challenges and perspectives related to hybrid TiO2/P3HT heterojunction solar cells are also explored.

CoS2/TiO2 Nanocomposites for Hydrogen Production under UV Irradiation.

Transition metal chalcogenides have intensively focused on photocatalytic hydrogen production for a decade due to their stronger edge and the quantum confinement effect. This work mainly focuses on synthesis and hydrogen production efficiencies of cobalt disulfide (CoS2)-embedded TiO2 nanocomposites. Materials are synthesized by using a hydrothermal approach and the hydrogen production efficiencies of pristine CoS2, TiO2 nanoparticles and CoS2/TiO2 nanocomposites are compared under UV irradiation. A higher amount of hydrogen production (2.55 mmol g-1) is obtained with 10 wt.% CoS2/TiO2 nanocomposite than pristineTiO2 nanoparticles, whereas no hydrogen production was observed with pristine CoS2 nanoparticles. This result unveils that the metal dichalcogenide-CoS2 acts as an effective co-catalyst and nanocrystalline TiO2 serves as an active site by effectively separating the photogenerated electron-hole pair. This study lays down a new approach for developing transition metal dichalcogenide materials with significant bandgaps that can effectively harness solar energy for hydrogen production.