Nanorod Photoelectrodes Research Articles

Binder-free Cu/Cu2O/CuO/Pd nanorods photoelectrode for regulating the faradaic efficiency for acetaldehyde and acetate production during photoelectrochemical CO2RR by stabilizing the Cu2O phase

The development of efficient photoelectrodes to accelerate photoelectrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (PEC-CO2RR) to obtain value-added chemicals or fuels is remarkably significant. Although Cu2O-based three-dimensional (3D) heterojunctions have emerged as promising materials for the selective generation of C2 products, they are still plagued by the stability of Cu+ in the Cu2O phase. In this work, we developed a binder-free Cu/Cu2O/CuO/Pd nanorods heterojunction via simple oxidation/reduction procedures to stabilize Cu+ in the Cu2O phase by incorporating high-work function Pd nanoparticles as a co-catalyst. The incorporated Pd not only stabilizes Cu+ through charge transfer from Cu2O to Pd but also enhances the stability of the *CO intermediate to improve C–C coupling for the formation of the C2 products, primarily acetate, and acetaldehyde. The Cu/Cu2O/CuO/Pd photoelectrode exhibits a superior Faradaic efficiency (FE) to produce acetate (21.4%) acetate and acetaldehyde (20.8%) at a negative potential of − 1.4 V (vs RHE), which are 3.5 and 19 times higher than that of Cu/Cu2O/CuO photoelectrode. Moreover, the Cu/Cu2O/CuO photoelectrode produces a maximum hydrogen gas evolution of ∼70% at − 1.2 V (vs RHE). Furthermore, compared to the Cu/Cu2O/CuO photoelectrode, the Cu/Cu2O/CuO/Pd photoelectrodes exhibit remarkable stability for a 5-h operation even at a higher negative applied potential of − 1.2 V vs RHE in CO2-saturated 0.1 M KHCO3. The stabilization of the Cu2O (111) phase is confirmed by the appearance of a characteristic X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron peaks after PEC-CO2RR. These results indicate that the proposed high-stability Cu/Cu2O/CuO/Pd photoelectrode provides a new pathway to produce more C2 products of acetaldehyde and acetate.

Morphological and optical characterizations of Sb2O5 nanorods as new photoelectrode for hydrogen generation

Sb2O5 nanorods were synthesized using vapor transport as a photoelectrode for hydrogen generation. XRD revealed the formation of cubic Sb2O5 crystallographic phase and no other impurity peaks were observed. The SEM images revealed randomly oriented wedge shaped nanorods morphology. The optical band gap, the refractive index and extinction coefficient of the synthesized Sb2O5 nanorods film were calculated from the spectral transmittance and reflectance measurements. The photocurrent density generated from Sb2O5 nanorods film was—0.055 mA cm−2 at −0.88 V and it displayed a fast transient response in the on–off process of light. The calculated hydrogen moles per active unit area was 0.48 μmole/h.cm2. The Sb2O5 nanorods photoelectrode have achieved an incident to photon conversion efficiency of 0.17%. The results indicated that the Sb2O5 nanorods film could be used as a potential photoelectrode in photoelectrochemical water splitting applications.

Open-circuit photopotential characterization of photoelectrochemical activities of Au-modified TiO2 nanorods

The open circuit potential (OCP) of a semiconductor electrode can be used to quantify the transient photopotential (Ep), which represents wavelength-dependent charge accumulation and relaxation kinetics of a photoelectrode. Here OCP responses of a plasmonic Au@TiO2 nanorods (NRs) photoelectrode can be quantified without causing electrochemical corrosion of Au. The photogenerated charge accumulation kinetics data based on the wavelength-dependent growth rates of |Ep| can resolve the plasmonic effects on photoelectrochemistry (PEC) of Au@TiO2 NRs. Data fitting with Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts (KWW) stretched exponential kinetics model illustrates the complex charge relaxations at the Au/TiO2 Schottky contact, from which long relaxation lifetimes with broad lifetime distributions can be obtained. This is attributed to the abundant deep defects in the nanostructure TiO2, which has been strongly confirmed by reducing the oxygen vacancies using a post-thermal annealing treatment. Single-particle dark-field scattering (DFS) spectrum is measured with a tunable wavelength light source to support visible light activities of PEC characteristics of Au@TiO2 NRs. Light scattering spectra of >200 single Au@TiO2 NRs particles are collected to compare directly with PEC responses of OCP of the ensemble Au@TiO2 NRs.

ZnO/g-C3N4 heterostructures: Synthesis, characterization and application as photoanode in dye sensitized solar cells

A simple low-temperature hydrothermal route was adopted to prepare the binary ZnO/g-C3N4 heterostructures, which were thoroughly characterized by various spectroscopic and microscopic probes. The clearly visible interfaces between the ZnO NRs and g-C3N4 in the HRTEM micrograph verify the formation of ZnO/g-C3N4 heterojunction structures, which, combined with N3 dye, deliver increased optical absorption extending from UV to the visible range. The binary ZnO/g-C3N4 heterostructures are used as the photoanode in the DSSC application. Improvement in the DSSC performance arises because of the growth of the g-C3N4 layer on the ZnO nanorods surface, which efficiently delays the reverse recombination of electrons from ZnO to the electrolyte. The g-C3N4 layer also increases the electron concentration in the photoelectrode and, thereby, directly contributes to the improved performance of the DSSC device. The optimal DSSC based on the ZnO/g-C3N4 photoanode delivers its characteristic JSC ∼14.18 mA/cm2, VOC ∼544 mV, FF ∼0.586 and η ∼4.52%, which is about 2.3 times greater than the DSSC efficiency based on pure ZnO nanorod photoelectrode and retains the spirit of generating the green energy following the photovoltaic endeavor.

RGO空间限域生长超薄In2S3纳米片用于构建高效准 一维Sb2Se3基异质结光阴极

Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) is a narrow-band-gap semiconductor that has been increasingly used as an excellent light-harvesting material in photoelectrocatalysis. The unique connections of the one-dimensional (Sb4Se6)n ribbon structural units determine the high anisotropy of their carrier transport. In this study, a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-modified quasi-one-dimensional Sb2Se3@In2S3 light-trapping heterostructure was successfully constructed by vapor transport deposition followed by an in situ hydrothermal method. The results showed that the thickness of the in situ grown non-layered In2S3 nanosheets was significantly reduced from 30 to 10 nm under the space-confinement effect of rGO, facilitating the construction of light-trapping nanostructures and increasing the electrochemically active surface area of the photoelectrode. The quasi-one-dimensional Sb2Se3@In2S3-rGO nanorod photoelectrode achieved a higher photocurrent density (1.169 mA cm−2), which was 2 and 16 times higher than that of Sb2Se3@In2S3 and pristine Sb2Se3, respectively. The ultrathin In2S3 nanosheets were co-modified with rGO nanosheets to fabricate a brush-like composite photoelectrode that exhibited favourable stability with an average hydrogen production rate of 16.59 µmol cm−2 h−1 under neutral conditions. The experimental results and theoretical calculations both showed that the significant improvement in photoelectrochemical performance can be perfectly explained by the type-II heterojunction mechanism. This study provides a new exploration to design rGO-modified composite photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical applications.

High-performing photoanodes with a cost-effective n-InGaN/p-Cu2O heterostructure for water splitting

InGaN nanorods are highly desirable candidates for photoelectrochemical water splitting photoelectrodes because of their inherent material properties. However, their use is hindered by their low carrier separation efficiency and high production cost. Therefore, in this work, InGaN nanorods were grown by a low-cost HCVD method, and, p-n heterojunction n-InGaN/p-Cu2O photoanodes were successfully constructed by electrodeposition to address the low carrier separation efficiency. The optimized InGaN/Cu2O photoelectrodes with uniform morphology have a maximum photocurrent density of 4.2 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE, which is 8.4 times that of pure InGaN nanorod photoelectrodes. A comprehensive experimental study showed that this approach of constructing p-n heterojunctions greatly enhances the carrier separation efficiency and alleviates the charge transfer kinetic bottleneck at photoelectrodes.

Epitaxial Grown Sb2Se3@Sb2S3 Core-Shell Nanorod Radial-Axial Hierarchical Heterostructure with Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting Performance.

Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) as a light-harvesting material has gradually attracted the attention of researchers in the field of photoelectrocatalysis. Uniquely, the crystal structure consists of one-dimensional (Sb4Se6)n ribbons, with an efficient carrier transport along the ribbon [001] direction. Herein, a novel Sb2Se3@Sb2S3 core-shell nanorod radial-axial hierarchical heterostructure was successfully fabricated by epitaxial growth strategy. Taking advantage of the isomorphous and anisotropic binding modes of (Sb4S(e)6)n ribbons for Sb2Se3 and Sb2S3, the epitaxially grown core-shell heterostructure forms a van der Waals heterojunction across the radial direction and covalently bonded heterojunction along the axial direction. A photocurrent of 1.37 mA cm-2 was achieved at 0 V vs RHE for the hierarchical Sb2Se3@Sb2S3 nanorod photoelectrode with [101] preferred orientation, up to 40 times higher than for pure Sb2Se3. Moreover, the FeOOH was introduced as a cocatalyst. The photoelectrode decorated with FeOOH shows better stability with a H2 generation rate of 18.9 μmol cm-2 h-1 under neutral conditions. This study provides a new insight into the design of antimony chalcogenide heterostructure photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting.

Topotactic and Self-Templated Fabrication of Zn1-xCdxSe Porous Nanobelt-ZnO Nanorod for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production.

Herein, we propose the topotactic and self-templated fabrication of Zn1-xCdxSe porous nanobelt-ZnO nanorod (termed as ZnCdSe/ZnO) photoelectrode via the cadmium (Cd2+) ion-exchange process on zinc (Zn) foil. Inorganic-organic hybrid ZnSe(en)0.5 nanobelt (NB) was synthesized on Zn foil by a facial solvothermal method at different temperatures of 140, 160, and 180 °C for 12 h. The interfacial properties and photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of inorganic-organic ZnSe(en)0.5 NB fabricated through the Cd2+ ion-exchange method at different time durations of 6, 12, 18, and 24 h at 140 °C were investigated. The TEM analysis results indicate that the inorganic-organic ZnSe(en)0.5 NB transformed into ZnCdSe and a self-assembled ZnO formed on the Zn foil. In particular Cd2+ ion temperature (140 °C/18 h), the optimized ZnCdSe/ZnO-(F) photoelectrode shows an excellent photocurrent density of 14 mA·cm-2 at 0 V vs Ag/AgCl with 219 μmol·cm-2 hydrogen gas evolution for 3 h under 1 sun illumination. The higher photocurrent value resulted from the optimum growth of ZnO, the formation of porous ZnCdSe, and the effective electrolyte penetration for electron-hole pair separation. The photoluminescence spectroscopy shows that the photoexcited charged carriers promoted a longer lifetime. Furthermore, we provide a full account of the possible charge-transfer mechanism during PEC hydrogen production.

Cu(I) complexes sensitized ZnO nanorods for photocatalytic water splitting

The earth-abundant Cu(I) is one of the promising dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells (DS-PECs) for sustainable energy production. We report that the heteroleptic Cu (I) complex's catalysis consisting of diphenylphosphinoaminoacetic acid and bipyridine derivatives have investigated with DS-PECs on water splitting application. HOMO-LUMO energy levels of 2,2′bipyridine Cu(I) diphenylphosphinoaminoacetic acid (Cu(L1)) 4,4′dimethyl-2,2′bipyridineCu(I)diphenyl phosphinoaminoacetic acid (Cu(L2)) are calculated with cyclic voltammetry and Uv-vis spectrometer. Both optic band gap and electrochemical band gap energy levels of Cu(I) complex indicates that Cu(L1) has a narrower band gap (2.74 eV and 2.75 eV) compared with Cu(L2) (2.86 eV and 2.79 eV). The photocatalytic hydrogen production of Cu(L1) and Cu(L2) complexes on ZnO nanorods are monitored with linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 0.5 M Na2SO4 under 100 mW cm−2 solar light irradiation. Cu(L1) modified ZnO nanorod photoelectrode indicates an utmost photocatalytic response (0.452 mA cm−2), the lowest charge transfers resistance (Rct) against to bare the ZnO and Cu(L2)/ZnO electrodes, and Cu(I) complex decreases injected electron lifetime leading to the enhanced photocatalytic response under solar light irradiation.

Fabrication of two-phase WO3 nanorod photoelectrode and its enhanced photoinduced cathodic protection performance

In this paper, two-phase WO3 photoelectrodes with different morphologies were obtained by controlling the concentration of Na2WO4 in the precursor solution, and their photoinduced cathodic protection(CP) performance was explored. The heterojunctions formed between hexagonal and monoclinic WO3 are favorable for the directional separation of photogenerated carriers. Meanwhile, the ordered growth of WO3 nanorods perpendicular to Ti substrate is conducive to the directional transmission of photogenerated carriers, which makes it have good photoinduced CP performance.

KNbO3]1-x[BaCo1/2Nb1/2O3-δ]x inorganic perovskite oxide coupled with TiO2 nanorods photoelectrode: Toward efficient enhancement of photoelectrochemical properties

Inorganic perovskite oxide photosensitizer have shown versatile practical applications, owing to fruitful chemistries of photoelectric materials. This work reports a straightforward and general protocol via the use of Co/Ba co-doped KNbO3 (KBCNO) photosensitizer coupled with TiO2 nanorods to boost photoelectricity property. In the representative system, KBCNO with different doping concentrations and TiO2 nanorods were used as photosensitizer and electron transfer layer, respectively. The synthetic process implicated that KBCNO with various concentration prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique and TiO2 nanorods were used as an active optical absorption layer and electrode, and the specific physicochemical, optical characterization and photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance were all discussed in detail in the detection of the obtained photoelectrodes. This work is also an effective extension of previous studies on the category of inorganic perovskite oxide photosensitizers, which has not been reported by other research group. Given that KNbO3-based compounds can be easily obtained in abundance and variety, this work enjoys great advantages in PEC performance of numerous other inorganic perovskite oxide photosensitizer.

Highly Efficient InGaN Nanorods Photoelectrode by Constructing Z-scheme Charge Transfer System for Unbiased Water Splitting.

Unbiased photoelectrochemical water splitting for the promising InGaN nanorods photoelectrode is highly desirable, but it is practically hindered by the serious recombination of charge carrier in bulk and surface of InGaN nanorods. Herein, an unbiased Z-scheme InGaN nanorods/Cu2 O nanoparticles heterostructured system with boosted interfacial charge transfer is constructed for the first time. The introduced Cu2 O nanoparticles pose double-sided effect on photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of InGaN nanorods, which enables a robust hybrid structure and induces weakened light absorption capability simultaneously. As a result, the optimized InGaN/Cu2 O-1.5C photoelectrode with the uniform morphology exhibits an enhanced photocurrent density of ≈170 µA cm-2 at 0 V versus Pt, with 8.5-fold enhancement compared with pure InGaN nanorods. Comprehensive investigations into experimental results and theoretical calculations reveal that the electrons accumulation and holes depletion of Cu2 O facilitate to form a typical Z-scheme band alignment, thus providing a large photovoltage to drive unbiased water splitting and enhancing the stability of Cu2 O. This work provides a novel and facile strategy to achieve InGaN nanorods and other catalyst-based PEC water splitting without external bias, and to relieve the bottlenecks of charge transfer dynamics at the electrode bulk and electrode/electrolyte interface by constructing Z-scheme heterostructure.

Photoelectrochemical determination of oxidase activity based on photoinduced direct electron transfer of protein by using a convenient photoelectrochemical detector

In order to fabricate the enzyme-labelled photoelectrochemical biosensor without redox mediators, a new method using chitosan to dissolve samples and transmit electrons was proposed to achieve the direct electron transfer between the oxidase and ZnO nanorods photoelectrode. Based on this strategy, activities of glucose oxidase and cholesterol oxidase were determined through using a novel photoelectrochemical detector matched with the method. Under optimized experimental conditions, the logarithm of photocurrent increase displayed a linear relationship to the logarithm of glucose oxidase or cholesterol oxidase concentrations in the range from 0.1–2.50 U/mL or from 0.1–4.00 U/mL, respectively, with correlation coefficients of 0.9976 and 0.9968, and the detection limits estimated by the correction curves were 0.05 and 0.08 U/mL. The results of the investigation further showed that the relative standard deviation was less than 5.8 % for the determination of commercial products with the recovery of 95 % ∼ 108 %. Besides peroxidase, the proposed method has a good selectivity for common biomolecules, and the relative standard deviation was less than 4.76 % for the repeated determinations.

Enhancement on Charge Generation and Transfer Properties of Sb2S3 Quantum-Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells by ZnO Nanorods Optimization

ZnO nanorod films prepared using different electrochemical deposition processes have been employed as photoelectrodes for Sb2S3 quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells. The density and diameter of the ZnO nanorods were adjusted by varying the electrochemical deposition time. The optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra of the different Sb2S3-sensitized ZnO nanorod photoelectrodes were investigated, revealing that the best optical absorption and charge separation properties were exhibited by the Sb2S3-sensitized ZnO nanorod photoelectrodes obtained using an electrochemical deposition time of 120 min. The charge transfer property of the quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells was also optimized by using ZnO nanorods with different structures. The Sb2S3-based quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells based on the ZnO nanorod photoelectrodes with relatively high density and low diameter fabricated using a deposition time of 120 min exhibited excellent charge generation and transfer properties, enabling higher current density and thereby a photovoltaic power conversion efficiency of 2.04%.

Fabrication and characterization of Cu2S/ZnO nanorods photoelectrode for photoelectrochemical cell

In this study, Cu2S/ZnO nanorods arrays (NRAs) nanocomposite have been efficiently papered via dual methods: firstly, ZnO NRAs by a hydrothermal method, and secondly Cu2S nanoparticles via successive ionic layer adsorption (SILAR). Cu2S/ZnO photoelectrode is collected from ZnO which is presented as a fast electron transportation way because of its high mobility and Cu2S as good sensitized material due to its small energy gap. XRD analysis, FESEM images, EDX analysis, UV–Vis spectra and photoelectrochemical performance (PEC) of bra ZnO and Cu2S/ZnO were characterized. All characterizations have confirmed formed the Cu2S/ZnO NRAs nanocomposite. PEC measurement was strong evidence to synthesis of Cu2S/ZnO which exhibited the anodic photocurrent density of pure ZnO NRs (0.12 mA cm−2) that was lower than Cu2S/ZnO NRAs (0.93 mA cm−2) at 1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl.

Lowering the onset potential of Zr-doped hematite nanocoral photoanodes by Al co-doping and surface modification with electrodeposited Co–Pi

Herein, in situ zirconium-doped hematite nanocoral (Zr–Fe2O3 (I) NC) photoanode was prepared via a specially designed diluted hydrothermal approach and modified with Al3+ co-doping and electrodeposited cobalt–phosphate (“Co–Pi”) cocatalyst. Firstly, an unintentional in situ Zr–Fe2O3 (I)) NC photoanode was synthesized, which achieved an optimum photocurrent density of 0.27 mA/cm2 at 1.0 V vs. RHE but possessed a more positively shifted onset potential than conventionally prepared hematite nanorod photoelectrodes. An optimized amount of aluminum co-doping suppresses the bulk as well as surface defects, which causes a negative shift in the onset potential from 0.85 V to 0.8 V vs. RHE and enhances the photocurrent density of Zr-Fe2O3(I) NC from 0.27 mA/cm2 to 0.7 mA/cm2 at 1.0 V vs. RHE. The electrodeposited Co–Pi modification further reduce the onset potential of Al co-doped Zr–Fe2O3(I) NC to 0.58 V vs. RHE and yield a maximum photocurrent of 1.1 mA/cm2 at 1.0 V vs. RHE (1.8 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs RHE). The improved photocurrent at low onset potential can be attributed to synergistic effect of Al co-doping and Co–Pi surface modification. Further, during photoelectrochemical water-splitting, a 137 and 67 μmol of hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) evolution was achieved over the optimum Co–Pi-modified Al-co-doped Zr–Fe2O3(I) NC photoanode within 6 h. The proposed charge transfer mechanism in optimum Co–Pi-modified Alco-doped Zr–Fe2O3(I) NC photoanodes during the photoelectrochemical water splitting was also studied.

Improving the photostability of cupric oxide nanorods

In this study, cupric oxide (CuO) nanorods were grown on a fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate by a modified chemical bath deposition method with various post-annealing temperatures. We investigated the effects of the post-annealing temperature on the morphological, structural, optical, electrical and photoelectrochemical properties of the CuO nanorods. We found that the morphology, light absorbance, and crystallinity of the CuO nanostructures changed with the post-annealing temperature. As the post-annealing temperature increased, CuO showed preferential growth of the (020) plane. In particular, the crystallinity of the (020) plane was substantially greater at post-annealing temperatures of 500 ℃ and 600 ℃ than at other temperatures. In this study, it was found that the preferential growth of the (020) plane and the improved crystallinity of the CuO (020) plane increased the photostability of the CuO nanorod photoelectrodes. As a result, a photocurrent density of −1.13 mA/cm2 (vs. a saturated calomel electrode) and a photostability of approximately 74% were obtained from the sample subjected to a post-annealing temperature of 600 ℃. However, cracks were found in this sample, and further study is necessary to improve the structural and mechanical properties.

CuO shell as a protective layer to improve the stability of ZnO nanorods-based photoelectrode in DSSCs

The dissolution of Zn atom in the acidic dye solution during the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells leads to low performance of ZnO-based photoelectrodes. Herein, we present the utilization of a CuO shell on ZnO nanorods, as an effective method to increase the power conversion efficiency of fabricated devices by improving the stability of the photoelectrode. Under 1-sun illuminated conditions, fabricated devices with a ZnO-CuO core-shell photoelectrode soaked in acidic N-719 dye for prolonged periods of time; show a more than 2 times higher conversion efficiency than devices utilizing pure ZnO nanorods photoelectrode. The higher power conversion efficiency is attributed to both the prevention of the dissolution of Zn atoms at the ZnO core surface and the formation of a Zn2+/dye complex at the photoelectrode/electrolyte interface. Additionally, results suggest that the CuO shell also contributes towards the improvement of light harvesting characteristics by increasing the absorption of dye molecules onto the photoelectrode. Experimental results support that a ZnO nanorods-based photoelectrode protected by a CuO shell is a good candidate to increase the efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells.

Preparation and improved photoelectrochemical performance of ternary nano-heterostructure of Bi2S3/CdS/ZnO nanorods

Bi2S3/CdS co-sensitised ZnO nanorods (ZnO NRs) photoelectrode was successfully synthesised in four steps. ZnO nanoparticles were prepared using the sol-gel/spin-coating procedure; the hydrothermal method was used to prepare ZnO nanorods and CdS respectively; then, Bi2S3 was synthesised by SILAR method. The present study investigated the enhancement of photo response for CdS/ZnO NRs by applying a homogeneous covering of Bi2S3 with different cycles of dipping. Field emission-scanning of electron microscopic (FE-SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman scattering, Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), and Photoelectrochemical performance were utilised to test the morphological, structural, optical, and photoactivity, respectively. The reason for the origin of improved photoelectrochemical performance of the Bi2S3/CdS/ZnO ternary films was basically attributed to the level of potential alignment between the CdS/ZnO and Bi2S3, which is beneficial for electron-hole pairs separation.

Omnidirectional light‐harvesting enhancement of dye‐sensitized solar cells with ZnO nanorods

In this work, the chemical solution method was used to prepare one-dimensional (1-D) ZnO nanorod (NR) photoelectrodes, which were subsequently used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The effects of ZnO NRs on the omnidirectional light-harvesting performance of DSSCs were investigated by growing ZnO NRs with varying lengths as photoelectrodes. On the basis of field-emission scanning electron microscopy and ultraviolet (UV)–vis-near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy measurements on the ZnO NR photoelectrodes of varying lengths, it was observed that the dye adsorption and light-scattering properties of NRs are affected by their length. In addition, DSSCs were prepared using ZnO NRs of varying lengths. These DSSCs were examined via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, monochromatic incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency measurements, and solar simulations to measure their photovoltaic efficiencies, carrier lifetimes, and device characteristics in omnidirectional antireflection measurements. The highest photovoltaic efficiency between these DSSCs was 0.33%. Omnidirectional antireflection measurements were performed on DSSCs with different ZnO NR lengths, and it was observed that the smallest change in efficiency between angles of incidence of 0° and 60° was 23%. Therefore, the light-scattering properties of ZnO NR photoelectrodes improve the omnidirectional antireflection light capture characteristics of DSSCs.