Improved performance of dye sensitized ZnO nanorod solar cells prepared using TiO₂ seed layer

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods of different structures have been grown on indium-doped tin oxide substrates by using TiO₂ as seed layer. The ZnO nanorods have been prepared using TiO₂ seed layers annealed at different temperatures via a simple sol–gel method. The X-ray diffraction result indicates that the prepared samples are of wurtzite structure. Dye sensitized solar cells have been fabricated using the prepared ZnO nanorods. The open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, fill factor, and power conversion efficiency of the ZnO nanorod based dye sensitized solar cells prepared using TiO₂ seed layers annealed at different temperatures have been determined. The improvement in power conversion efficiency may be due to the flower like structured ZnO nanorods with smaller diameter and large specific surface area which paves way for the efficient electron transfer in hybrid solar cells.