Growth of single-crystalline rutile TiO2 nanorods on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass for organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells

Single-crystalline TiO2 nanorods (TiO2 NRs) are grown directly on FTO substrates by hydrothermal methods. The diameters and lengths of TiO2 NRs are easily controlled by growth conditions. When used in hybrid solar cells, TiO2 NRs function as the continuous pathway for fast electron transport to charge collecting electrode, demonstrating a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.21% with 140 nm long TiO2 NRs. The bilayer polymer coating are introduced into 500 nm long TiO2 NRs to reduce the surface roughness, resulting in the improved contact between the polymer blend and silver electrode and an enhanced PCE from 2.70 to 3.07%.