Chemisorption determines the photovoltage of a Ti/TiO2/Au/dye internal electron emission photovoltaic cell.

The Ti/TiO2/Au junction forms the basis of a promising new type of photovoltaic cell, provided that a light-harvesting antenna layer can be deposited on the thin gold film. We report that the electrical diode characteristics of the TiO2/Au Schottky barrier deteriorate by deposition of a hydrophobic quantum dot film, Merbromin dye adsorption, or electron-hole photogeneration in TiO2 under inert conditions. In the presence of oxygen and water vapor, the Schottky barrier characteristics and high photovoltage are recovered. The strong influence of the TiO2 surface chemistry on the (photo)electrical characteristics of the solar cell is discussed on the basis of an existing microscopic model.