Abstract
Ultrathin anatase TiO 2 films were coated on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass by anodic electrodeposition followed by annealing at 450°C before the formation of thick TiO 2 layer. The electrodeposited TiO 2 films were more compact structure near the FTO surface (inner layer), and became less compact further away from the surface (outer layer). The outer layer of film deposited at 10 μA cm -2 was composed of granular nanoparticles and that of film deposited at 5 μA cm -2 was composed of short nanorods. The inner compact layer could act as a blocking layer to suppress the charge recombination. The outer loose layer could provide an anchoring layer for a better electrical contact between FTO and thick TiO 2 layer. The photoelectron conversion efficiency () of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) using TiO 2 -coated FTO deposited at 10 μA cm -2 was 6.9, which is higher than that of DSC using bare FTO (6.5). The outer anchoring layer composed of short nanorods deposited at 5 μA cm -2 could significantly reduce the interfacial contact resistance between FTO and main TiO 2 layer. Therefore, of DSC was further increased to 7.1 after employing the TiO 2 -coated FTO deposited at 5 μA cm -2 . © 2011 The Electrochemical Society.