8. Facile Fabrication of 1-D Hierarchical TiO₂ Nanomorphology and Its Application in Dye Sensitized Solar Cell

One-dimensional nanofibers fabricated by the process of electrospinning have found engaging applications in the field of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) due to semi-directed electron transport. Current research accounts for the development of conductive mats made from nanofibers, which is achieved through the electrospinning of TiO₂–ZnO composites and by using polyvinylpyrrolidine as a carrier solution. This fiber was annealed at 450 °C to attain a continuous network of conducting nanofibers. ZnO from the composite was selectively etched to fabricate high surface area anisotropic TiO₂ hierarchical fiber. Morphological and phase analysis conducted by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the formation of anatase phase and 1-D hierarchical morphology of TiO₂. These structures were employed as photoanodes in DSSC, which had shown superior photoconversion efficiency.