Facile one-step synthesis of highly branched ZnO nanostructures on titanium foil for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells

Highly branched ZnO (HBZ) nanostructures were prepared on titanium (Ti) foil using a facile, one-step vapor confined chemical vapor deposition technique. The as-prepared ZnO layer showed a good connection with the Ti foil even after 50 bending cycles, and the resultant HBZ/Ti electrode possessed high bendability. The HBZ/Ti electrode was composed of four different layers, including a highly branched ZnO layer, a ZnO compact layer, a Ti-Zn alloy layer and Ti foil. The good adhesion of the as-prepared ZnO layer to Ti foil was ascribed to the formation of a Ti-Zn alloy layer and a ZnO compact layer during the growth process. A flexible dye-sensitized solar cell was assembled using the D149-sensitized HBZ/Ti as a photoanode, and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.3% was achieved with an open-circuit photovoltage of 0.664 V, a short-circuit current density of 7.53 mA cm(-2), and a fill factor of 0.66 measured under rear-side illumination (AM 1.5, 100 mW cm(-2)). The power conversion efficiency of the device remained at 92% of the initial value even after 50 bending cycles. These results indicate that the vapor confined chemical vapor deposition method which does not necessarily use any catalyst or seed is a facile, one-step approach to obtain highly branched ZnO nanostructures with high bendability on Ti foil. The tight bonding between the highly branched ZnO layer and Ti substrate by a Ti-Zn alloy layer and a ZnO compact layer makes the vapor confined CVD method very attractive for the preparation of high-performance flexible photoanodes.