Issue 22, 2013

Synthesis of hierarchical TiO2 nanowires with densely-packed and omnidirectional branches

Abstract

In this study, a hierarchical TiO2 nanostructure with densely-packed and omnidirectional branches grown by a hydrothermal method is introduced. This morphology is achieved via high-concentration TiCl4 treatment of upright backbone nanowires (NWs) followed by hydrothermal growth. Secondary nanobranches grow in all directions from densely distributed, needle-like seeds on the jagged round surface of the backbone NWs. In addition, hierarchical, flower-like branches grow on the top surface of each NW, greatly increasing the surface area. For dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications, the TiO2 nanostructure demonstrated a photoconversion efficiency of up to 6.2%. A parametric study of the DSSC efficiency showed that branched TiO2 DSSCs can achieve nearly four times the efficiency of non-branched TiO2 nanowire DSSCs, and up to 170% the efficiency of previously-reported sparsely-branched TiO2 NW DSSCs.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis of hierarchical TiO2 nanowires with densely-packed and omnidirectional branches

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 May 2013
Accepted
12 Sep 2013
First published
17 Sep 2013

Nanoscale, 2013,5, 11147-11152

Synthesis of hierarchical TiO2 nanowires with densely-packed and omnidirectional branches

D. Lee, Y. Rho, F. I. Allen, A. M. Minor, S. H. Ko and C. P. Grigoropoulos, Nanoscale, 2013, 5, 11147 DOI: 10.1039/C3NR02584E

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