Dye-sensitized solar cells based on TiO2 nanoparticles-decorated ZnO nanorod arrays for enhanced photovoltaic performance

摘要： Herein, we report a successful approach for the vertically aligned ZnO nanorod arrays (ZNAs) deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate by hydrothermal process. TiO2 nanoparticles were grown on the ZNAs by dip-coating. ZNAs and TiO2 nanoparticles (TNPs)-decorated ZNAs (TNPs@ZNAs) were used as a photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells. The influence of bath temperature for the attainment of uniform decoration of TiO2 nanoparticles onto ZnO nanorod arrays and the photovoltaic performances of the assembled dye-sensitized solar cells were studied. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the TNPs@ZNAs arrays prepared at a bath temperature of 120 °C can reach 4.47%, representing better improvement when compared with ZNAs photoanode (3.15%).