Facile synthesis of ZnO micro-nanostructures with controllable morphology and their applications in dye-sensitized solar cells

Different morphologies of ZnO micro-nanostructures were successfully prepared by hydrothermal method at relatively mild conditions using ammonia to adjust the pH of the reaction system. The samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, optical reflectance spectra, and photocurrent–voltage curve. The results demonstrated that the morphologies of ZnO changed from “wire” to “flower”, “urchin” and “wire” with increase in the pH of the reaction system due to the increased concentration of ammonia. The diffused reflectance spectra illustrated that the reflectance of denser urchin-like ZnO was low at 18% in the visible region. When the as-synthesized ZnO micro-nanostructures were used as the anode of the dye sensitization solar cell, the denser urchin-like ZnO exhibited the best photoelectric properties. The short circuit current (Jsc), open circuit voltage (Voc), and conversion efficiency (η) were 6.50 mA/cm2, 0.682 V, and 1.92%, respectively.