Nanomaterials (Aug 2020)

Titanium Dioxide-Coated Zinc Oxide Nanorods as an Efficient Photoelectrode in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

  • Qiang Zhang,
  • Shengwen Hou,
  • Chaoyang Li

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10081598
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 8
p. 1598

Abstract

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Well-arrayed zinc oxide nanorods applied as photoelectrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells were synthesized on an aluminum-doped zinc oxide substrate by the multi-annealing method. In order to improve the chemical stability and surface-to-volume ratio of photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells, the synthesized zinc oxide nanorods were coated with pure anatase phase titanium dioxide film using a novel mist chemical vapor deposition method. The effects of the titanium dioxide film on the morphological, structural, optical, and photovoltaic properties of zinc oxide–titanium dioxide core–shell nanorods were investigated. It was found that the diameter and surface-to-volume ratio of zinc oxide nanorods were significantly increased by coating them with titanium dioxide thin film. The power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells was improved from 1.31% to 2.68% by coating titanium dioxide film onto the surface of zinc oxide nanorods.

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