Effect of annealing temperature on TiO2 nanorod films prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering for dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

The anatase TiO2 nanorod films have been prepared on ITO coated glass substrates at room temperature by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The nanorods are highly ordered and are perpendicular to the substrate. XRD measurements show that the anatase nanorods have a preferred orientation along the [110] direction. The prepared nanorods were annealed at different temperatures (200 ºC – 500 ºC) in air for 1 hour. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) have been made using the as-deposited and annealed TiO2 nanorods as working electrode. It has been found that annealing will improve the efficiency of the DSSC. An optimum conversion efficiency of 2.13%, at 100 mW/cm2 light intensity, has been achieved with TiO2 nanorods annealed at 300 ºC.