Abstract
Fabrication of uniform vertically-aligned titanium dioxide nanorods (TiO2 NRs) was achieved by hydrothermal growth on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate. The substrate was coated by a TiO2 seed layer composed of titanium (IV) butoxide (TBO) as a precursor in an HCl solution. To reduce the amount of toxic substances used in this work, a minimal amount of HCl was used. On a larger scale, this method would require less precursor and therefore be a cost-savings. The aim of the present work is to achieve high crystalline orientations of TiO2 NRs for low quantities of both TBO precursor and HCl solutions. Results showed that the 0.7% TBO TiO2 NRs after 1.5 h of hydrothermal treatment exhibited the optimal crystalline orientation along [001] while the (002) plane is the dominant facet. The results demonstrate high transmittance of visible light and well-formed crystalline structures that offer a fast electron pathway along the length of the TiO2 NRs with less grain boundaries. Lastly, TiO2 NRs and their growth mechanism are discussed. This work offers a promising hydrothermal method for growing well-aligned TiO2 single-crystal NRs that can be employed in solar cell applications.
Highlights
There is a growing demand for new materials to use in applications that meet today’s energy and environmental challenges
field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images of the TiO2 NRs synthesized at different titanium (IV) butoxide (TBO) concentrations and different heating times demonstrate the same trend
With an excess of protons in the long chains, the occurrence of oxolation could increase the diameter of the NRs and allow olation to continue lengthening the NRs
Summary
There is a growing demand for new materials to use in applications that meet today’s energy and environmental challenges. Wide band gap semiconductors, using very promising materials, are demonstrating impressive properties for example, high electron mobility, large band gaps and reasonably good conductivity. Among semiconducting wide band-gap materials, titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) are alternative materials used as electron transporting layers with suitable energy levels relative to Perovskite solar cells (PSC). TiO2, ZnO-based PSCs exhibit poor stability, which is a serious problem. TiO2 has an acidic surface while a ZnO surface shows basic properties with high adsorption of pwohsiicthivceocuhladrgberse1a.kWthheenioPneicroivnstkeritaectisioenxpboetswedeeonnCaHZ3nNOHl3+ayaenr,daPdbeIp−3raontodnaastiaonrerseualtc,tiitoncawniothbsCtrHu3cNt tHh3+e occurs crystal formation of the Perovskite[2]. Due to the wide band gap of TiO2, UV light is less than 5% of solar irradiance. The visible light and near infrared photons cannot be absorbed by TiO2 forms but UV or higher-energy can[2]
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