Abstract: The photovoltaic device is formed by coating a substrate with a transparent conducting oxide and then this layer is coated with a dioxide layer. The dioxide layer is then coated in a single step with a precursor solution including metal oxide nanoparticles and perovskites and this precursor can be heated to form a scaffold having a perovskite light absorber and electron transporter. A conductor is added to form a connection with the scaffold and it is envisaged that because a single step relatively low temperature process is used to form the scaffold then this can be painted onto a surface and cured in situ making it a very economical process.

Abstract: A method of removing contaminants from liquid passing over a surface by applying a photocatalyst to said surface 2, such that when a liquid passes over said surface in the presence of solar power, contaminants are degraded to less harmful compounds in said liquid. The photocatalyst is typically titanium dioxide applied as a coating on a surface such as glass or metal and can be used to degrade contaminants in effluents from industrial processes such as the textile or paper industries when liquid from those processes flows over the coating.

Abstract: A counter electrode generally shown as 1 is formed of a conductive substrate e.g. a glass substrate 10 on which is deposited doped oxide, e.g. a fluorine doped tin oxide 20. Overlaying the fluorine layer is a layer of a metal halide, e.g. platinum chloride 30 (5 Mm H2PtCl6(H2O6) in isoproply alcohol. Metal is deposited from the solution by treating with NIR. The tin oxide layer renders the glass electrically conductive, absorbs significantly in the NIR and allows for the subsequent heating of the Pt—Cl via a heat transfer process to make the counter electrode in a very efficient manner.

Abstract: The invention describes a novel process for the aqueous synthesis of rutile and anatase nanocrystallites, their blending for preparation of a hybrid paste for single-layer (bi-functional) film deposition and the formulation of new water-based TiO2 screen printing paste for the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) photoanodes.