Mesoporous anatase single crystals for efficient Co^(2+/3+)-based dye-sensitized solar cells

Highly crystalline mesoporous architectures are very promising for a number of applications due to their unique properties arising from their excellent electronic connectivity, structural coherence, mass-transport-efficient channels, and large surface area/pore volume. Herein, we report, for the first time, a facile synthesis approach to mesoporous anatase single crystals (MASCs) with special polyhedral pores (~7nm). This architecture is employed to construct MK-2-sensitized solar cells using a cobalt redox shuttle, with a maximum efficiency of 8.7% achieved, which is significantly higher than for analogous devices based on commercial Dyesol TiO₂ (6.3%). It is worth emphasizing that not only applications in solar cells, but also in sensing, drug delivery, and photocatalysis may benefit from these innovative MASCs.