Rectangular bunched rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays grown on carbon fiber for dye-sensitized solar cells.
Because of their special application in photovoltaics, the growth of one-dimensional single-crystalline TiO(2) nanostructures on a flexible substrate is receiving intensive attention. Here we present a study of rectangular bunched TiO(2) nanorod (NR) arrays grown on carbon fibers (CFs) from titanium by a "dissolve and grow" method. After a corrosion process in a strong acid solution, every single nanorod is etched into a number of small nanowires. Tube-shaped dye-sensitized solar cells are fabricated by using etched TiO(2) NRs-coated CFs as the photoanode. An absolute energy conversion efficiency of 1.28% has been demonstrated under 100 mW cm(-2) AM 1.5 illumination. This work demonstrates an innovative method for growing bunched TiO(2) NRs on flexible substrates that can be applied in flexible devices for energy harvesting and storage.
School of Material Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.
Wenxi
W
Guo
Chen
C
Xu
Xue
X
Wang
Sihong
S
Wang
Caofeng
C
Pan
Changjian
C
Lin
Zhong Lin
ZL
Wang