A facile inside-out Ostwald ripening route to the two kinds of morphological TiO2 microspheres (hollow and solid structure) is developed. During the formation process of TiO2 hollow microspheres, precipitation of solid cores, subsequent deposition of outer shells on the surface of cores, and simultaneous core dissolution and shell recrystallization are successfully observed. The post-processing treatment enlarges pore sizes, strengthens crystallinity, and reduces trap states, which could improve the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells.
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