Hierarchical rutile TiO₂ flower cluster-based high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells via direct hydrothermal growth on conducting substrates

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on hierarchical rutile TiO ₂ flower clusters prepared by a facile, one-pot hydrothermal process exhibit a high efficiency. Complex yet appealing rutile TiO₂ flower films are, for the first time, directly hydrothermally grown on a transparent conducting fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate. The thickness and density of as-grown flower clusters can be readily tuned by tailoring growth parameters, such as growth time, the addition of cations of different valence and size, initial concentrations of precursor and cation, growth temperature, and acidity. Notably, the small lattice mismatch between the FTO substrate and rutile TiO₂ renders the epitaxial growth of a compact rutile TiO₂ layer on the FTO glass. Intriguingly, these TiO₂ flower clusters can then be exploited as photoanodes to produce DSSCs, yielding a power conversion efficiency of 2.94% despite their rutile nature, which is further increased to 4.07% upon the TiCl₄ treatment.