Template free synthesis of locally-ordered mesoporous titania and its application in dye-sensitized solar cells

Highlights: ► We synthesize new locally-ordered mesoporous material, using template free method. ► We show the structural and electronic properties of the synthesized materials. ► We present the possible application for the materials in DSSCs. ► We conclude that presented synthesis is a good way to obtain mesoporous TiO2. - Abstract: A simple template-free synthesis of unique mesoporous titania materials is reported. The synthesis presented is a good, easy and inexpensive method to obtain both ordered and disordered mesoporous titania with tunable and well defined physicochemical properties such us surface area, porosity and crystallinity. The locally-ordered obtained titania was applied as electrode material in dye-sensitized solar cells. The materials prepared were characterized with both wide and small angle XRD, nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms, diffuse reflectance UV-Vis, TEM, HRTEM, FT-IR, TGA and DSC measurements. The presented materials showed good activity in photon-to-current conversion process, with overall photoelectric conversion efficiencies reaching up to 5% with fill factors around 60%.