Electrodeposition of hierarchical ZnO nanorod arrays on flexible stainless steel mesh for dye-sensitized solar cell

•Hierarchical ZnO nanorod arrays (ZNRAs) were prepared by electrodeposition method.•Flexible stainless steel mesh (SSM) supported with hierarchical ZNRAs was first used for DSSCs.•The effect of ZnO morphology on the photovoltaic performance of flexible DSSCs was investigated.•The DSSC based on 3-Hierarchical ZNRAs/ZNPs showed a relatively efficiency of 1.11%.

Hierarchical ZnO nanorod arrays (ZNRAs) were synthesized on flexible stainless steel mesh (SSM) in large scale by a two-step facile electrodeposition method. The structure and morphology of the as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The growth mechanism of the ZnO hierarchical nanostructures was also discussed. Moreover, the effect of ZnO morphology on the photovoltaic performance of the flexible DSSCs based on SSM supported ZnO nanostructures was investigated in detail. It is shown that the flexible DSSCs exhibited a relatively higher power conversion efficiency of 1.11% compared with that based on primary ZNRAs.