Controllable hydrothermal synthesis of rutile TiO2 hollow nanorod arrays on TiCl4 pretreated Ti foil for DSSC application

Rutile TiO 2 nanorod arrays (TNRs) were achieved by hydrothermal process on TiCl 4 pretreated Ti foil. Subsequently, TNRs were hydrothermally etched in HCl solution to form hollow TiO 2 nanorod arrays (H-TNRs). The TiCl 4 pretreatment plays key roles in enhancement of Ti foil corrosion resistance ability and crystal nucleation introduction for TNRs growth. TNRs with desired morphology can be obtained by controlling TiCl 4 concentration and the amount of tetrabutyl titanate (TTB) accordingly. TNRs with the length of ~1.5   μm and diameter of ~200   nm, obtained on 0.15   M TiCl 4 pretreated Ti foil with 0.6   mL TTB, exhibits relatively higher photocurrent . The increased pore volume of the H-TNRs has contributed to the increased surface area which is benefit for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) application. And the 180   °C-H-TNRs photoanode obtained from the 0.15-TiCl 4 -TNRs sample demonstrated 128.9% enhancement of photoelectric efficiency of DSSC compared to that of the original TNR photoanode.