Ionic liquid diffusion properties in tetrapod-like ZnO photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells

► The tetrapod-like ZnO nanopowder provides fast electron transport in ZnO and efficient ionic diffusion pathway in the photoanode pore. ► The recombination rate of T-ZnO-based DSC is lower than that of C-ZnO one. ► The ion diffusion ability in tetrapod-like ZnO is about two times improvement, which enables the regeneration ability of dye molecular by redox couples.