Final edited full-text version of the paper available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cphc.200700019
Four titanium-containing zeolites and microporous molecular sieves differing on the crystal structure and particle size (Ti/Beta, Ti/Beta-60, TS-1 and ETS-10) are prepared, and their activity for solar cells after incorporating N3 (a commercially available ruthenium polypyridyl dye) is tested. All the zeolites exhibit photovoltaic activity, and the photoresponse is quite independent of the zeolite pore dimensions or particle size. The photoresponse increases with titanium content in the range 1-7% wt. In this way, cells are obtained that have open-circuit voltage Voc=560 mV and maximum short-circuit photocurrent density Isc=100 μA, measured for 1×1 cm2 surfaces with a solar simulator at 1000 W through and AM 1.5 filter. These values are promising and comparable to those obtained for current dye-sensitized titania solar cells.
Financial support by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education (CTQ 2006–06 875) is gratefully acknowledged. P.A. thanks the Ministry of Science and Education and the Universidad Politécnica for two post-graduate scholarships.
Peer reviewed