ZnO Nanowires for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

This chapter provides a broad review of the latest research activities focused on the synthesis and application of ZnO nanowires (NWs) for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSCs) and composed of three main sections. The first section briefly introduces DSC‐working principles and ZnO NW application advantages and stability issues. The next section reviews ZnO NW synthesis methods, demonstrating approaches for controlled synthesis of different ZnO NW morphology and discussing how this effects the overall efficiency of the DSC. In the last section, the methods for ZnO NW interface modification with various materials are discussed, which include ZnO core‐shell structures with semiconductive or protective layers, ZnO NW hybrid structures with other materials, such as nanoparticles, quantum dots and carbon nanomaterials and their benefit for charge and light transport in DSCs. The review is concluded with some perspectives and outlook on the future developments in the ZnO nanowire application for DSCs