Influence of titanium tetrachloride concentration and multiple growth cycles of TiO2 nanorod on photoanode performance in dye sensitized solar cell

Abstract

Single crystalline rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays (NRAs) have been grown on fluorine doped tin oxide (F: SnO2) coated glass substrate by using hydrothermal technique. The influence of precursor concentration on the morphological, structural, optical and electrical properties of TiO2 nanorods (NRs) was studied. X-ray diffraction studies show that the TiO2 NRs are highly oriented with respect to the substrate surface. FESEM measurements of TiO2 films display that the length of the rods are ranged from (1.54 to 2.44) μm. The transmittance, absorption coefficient, and energy gap at different precursor concentration were measured and calculated. Results show that rods length decreased the transmittance and energy gap, whereas it increased the absorption coefficient. The electrical measurements of TiO2 exhibit the effect of rods length on the resistivity of single crystalline rutile TiO2 nanorod array. The sample with optimum precursor concentration and with 2.44 μm in length was employed as photoanode in Dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC).The effect of multiple growth cycles of TiO2 NR on Photoanode Performance in DSSC was investigated. The spectral response of Dye sensitized solar cell showed one peak of response and its maximum value approaching 0.16 A/W at λ = 500 nm. The prepared DSSC reveals a conversion efficiency of 2.15% under illumination of 100 mW cm−2 by one time of growth cycle.