Integrated ZnO nanotube arrays as efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a wide band gap semiconducting material and has been considered as an alternative material in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications. A high-performance nanotube (NT) photoanode must have a large surface area for dye adsorption in order to enhance conversion efficiency. In this work, the way of hydrothermally grown ZnO NT arrays on the indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate is presented by utilizing a systematic study. By adjusting the hydrothermal reaction parameters, we attained the optimizing reaction conditions on the ITO substrate. Moreover, ZnO NT arrays are introduced as a photoanode on various substrates, such as optical fiber and ITO glass, for DSSCs applications. We took the contrast test with conversion efficiency of the DSSC based on ZnO NT arrays versus ZnO nanowire arrays on the ITO substrate, which the DSSC based on ZnO NT arrays shows significantly enhanced power conversion efficiency. Furthermore, the conversion efficiency of DSSC based on the ZnO NT arrays grown on an optical fiber substrate is enhanced up to 1.44%.

► Tuning the reaction parameters, we got the best reaction conditions on ITO glass.
► Introduce ZnO NTs design of photoanode featuring high aspect ratio structure.
► The design strategy integrates the optical fibers or ITO with ZnO NTs grown.