Efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells [DSSCs] was enhanced by combining the use of TiO₂ nanotubes [TNTs] and nanoparticles. TNTs were fabricated by a sol-gel method, and TiO₂ powders were produced through an alkali hydrothermal transformation. DSSCs were constructed using TNTs and TiO₂ nanoparticles at various weight percentages. TNTs and TiO₂ nanoparticles were coated onto FTO glass by the screen printing method. The DSSCs were fabricated using ruthenium(II) (N-719) and electrolyte (I₃/I₃ ^-) dyes. The crystalline structure and morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction and using a scanning electron microscope. The absorption spectra were measured using an UV-Vis spectrometer. The incident photocurrent conversion efficiency was measured using a solar simulator (100 mW/cm²). The DSSCs based on TNT/TiO₂ nanoparticle hybrids showed better photovoltaic performance than cells made purely of TiO₂ nanoparticles.

The replacement of oxide semiconducting TiO₂ nano particles with one dimensional TiO₂ nanotubes (TNTs) has been used for improving the electron transport in the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Although use of one dimensional structure provides the enhanced photoelectrical performance, it tends to reduce the adsorption of dye on the TiO₂ surface due to decrease of surface area. To overcome this problem, we investigate the effects of TiCl₄ treatment on DSSCs which were constructed with composite films made of TiO₂ nanoparticles and TNTs. To find optimum condition of TNTs concentration in TiO₂ composites film, series of DSSCs with different TNTs concentration were made. In this optimum condition (DSSCs with 10 wt% of TNT), the effects of post treatment are compared for different TiCl₄ concentrations. The results show that the DSSCs using a TiCl₄ (90 mM) post treatment shows a maximum conversion efficiency of 7.83% due to effective electron transport and enhanced adsorption of dye on TiO₂ surface.

The exploration of novel polymers for temperature sensing with high sensitivity has attracted tremendous research interest. Hence, we report a polystyrene-coated optical fiber temperature sensor with high sensitivity. To enhance the temperature sensitivity, flat, thin, smooth, and air bubble-free polystyrene was coated on the edge surface of a single-mode optical fiber, where the coating thickness was varied based on the solution concentration. Three thicknesses of the polystyrene layer were obtained as 2.0, 4.1, and 8.0 μm. The temperature sensor with 2.0 μm thick polystyrene exhibited the highest temperature sensitivity of 439.89 pm °C⁻¹ in the temperature range of 25–100 °C. This could be attributed to the very uniform and thin coating of polystyrene, along with the reasonable coefficient of thermal expansion and thermo-optic coefficient of polystyrene. Overall, the experimental results proved the effectiveness of the proposed polystyrene-coated temperature sensor for accurate temperature measurement.