Synthesis and solar cell application of a Ti (metal)-organic framework/carbon nanotube composite

A composite of MIL-125 (MIL=Material from Institute Lavoisier, a Ti based metal-organic framework) and single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) has been synthesized via one-pot solvothermal reaction method. The successful formation of the MIL-125/SWCNT composite has been verified with electron microscopy technique. A thin film of the above composite material was used to modify a FTO/TiO2 slide and this photoanode then sensitized with MK-2 dye (2-Cyano-3-[5??-(9-ethyl-9H-carbazol-3-yl)-3?, 3?, 3??,4-tetra-n-hexyl-[2, 2?,5?, 2?, 5?, 2??]-quater thiophen-5-yl] acrylic acid). A dye sensitized solar cell has been assembled using the above photosensitized photoanode. Due to porous nature of MOF, the MIL-125/SWCNT composite based photoanode has contributed toward a good dye absorption and lower charge recombination, which resulted favorable values of short circuit current density (J(SC)=17.6 mA cm(?2)) and open circuit voltage (V-OC=603 mV). The power conversion efficiency of the MIL-125/SWCNT thin layer modified solar cell is estimated as 5.26%.