Direct Low-Temperature Growth of Single-Crystalline Anatase TiO2 Nanorod Arrays on Transparent Conducting Oxide Substrates for Use in PbS Quantum-Dot Solar Cells.
We report on the direct growth of anatase TiO2 nanorod arrays (A-NRs) on transparent conducting oxide (TCO) substrates that can be directly applied to various photovoltaic devices via a seed layer mediated epitaxial growth using a facile low-temperature hydrothermal method. We found that the crystallinity of the seed layer and the addition of an amine functional group play crucial roles in the A-NR growth process. The A-NRs exhibit a pure anatase phase with a high crystallinity and preferred growth orientation in the [001] direction. Importantly, for depleted heterojunction solar cells (TiO2/PbS), the A-NRs improve both electron transport and injection properties, thereby largely increasing the short-circuit current density and doubling their efficiency compared to TiO2 nanoparticle-based solar cells.
Hyun Suk
HS
Chung
∇Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States.
Gill Sang
GS
Han
So Yeon
SY
Park
Hee-Won
HW
Shin
Tae Kyu
TK
Ahn
§Nanomechanical Systems Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), Daejeon 305-343, Korea.|#Department of Nanomechatronics, Korea University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon 305-350, Korea.
Sohee
S
Jeong
In Sun
IS
Cho
Hyun Suk
HS
Jung
anatase TiO2; charge transport; depleted heterojunction solar cells; low-temperature solution growth; nanorod arrays