Room-temperature fast construction of outperformed ZnO nanoarchitectures on nanowire-array templates for dye-sensitized solar cells

A ZnO nanoarchitecture composed of nanocactus (NCs) and nanosheets (NSs) is constructed on the ZnO-nanowire (NW)-array template within 4 min by a facile room-temperature (RT) chemical bath deposition (CBD) for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Compared to the ZnO NW array, the spines and shells of NCs provide larger and more fitting surface for dye adsorption. The NSs developed on the top and side walls of the NWs afford the additional surface for dye adsorption as well as for light scattering. Moreover, the RT-grown ZnO nanostructures possess an upward-shifted conduction band edge and a fast electron transport rate compared to the primary ZnO NW array. With an anode thickness of 9 μm, an efficiency of 5.14% is therefore simply attained in the D149-sensitized ZnO NC-NS DSSC.