Effect of Annealing Temperature on TiO(2) Nanorod Films Prepared by dc Reactive Magnetron Sputtering for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract: Anatase TiO(2) nanorod films have been prepared on ITO coated glass substrates at room temperature by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The nanorods are highly ordered and are perpendicular to the substrate. XRD measurements show that the anatase nanorods have a preferred orientation along the [110] direction. The prepared nanorods were annealed at different temperatures (200-500 A degrees C) in air for 1 h. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) have been made using the as-deposited and annealed TiO(2) nanorods as working electrodes. It has been found that annealing improves the efficiency of the DSSC. An optimum conversion efficiency of 2.13%, at 100 mW/cm(2) light intensity has been achieved with TiO(2) nanorods annealed at 300 A degrees C