ZnO nanorods for solar cells: Hydrothermal growth versus vapor deposition

Abstract

Performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on ZnO nanorods prepared by hydrothermal and vapor-deposition methods has been investigated. In spite of their inferior optical properties, DSSCs based on hydrothermally grown rods exhibit higher power conversion efficiency, which can be attributed to the higher dye adsorption. Hydrothermally grown and vapor deposited nanorods also exhibit different dependence of photovoltaic performance on the annealing conditions of the rods, indicating significant effect of the native defects on the achievable photocurrent and power conversion efficiency. Efficiency of 0.22% is obtained for both as grown hydrothermally grown nanorods and vapor deposited nanorods annealed in oxygen at 200°C.