The examination of surface features and elemental analysis of a precursor and AC were made by. The surface area and porosity of raw and activated samples were determined by N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm obtained at 77 K using Micromeretics ASAP 2020. Before analysis, the sample was degassed under vacuum at 573 K for 2 h. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface areawas determined at relative pressures in the range of 0.05 to 0.3. Pore size distribution (PSD) was found out by Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) method. The JASCO-670 UV/VIS spectrophotometer was used to find the UV-Vis spectra of N3 in methanol and adsorbed on AC-TiO2 film at glass substrates. The Keithley 2400 Source Meter was used to measure the I−V characteristics of the DSSCs using IV-5 solar simulator (Sr #83, PV Measurement, Inc.) at AM1.5G (100 mWcm− 2). The silicon solar cell was used as a reference for calibration.
The impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was measured in dark conditions of illumination via Bio-Logic SAS (VMP3, s/n: 0373), with an AC signal of 10 mV in an amplitude, in the frequency range between 10 Hz and 800 KHz.