In this letter, the authors report a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) using a ZnO-nanoflower film photoanode, which was grown by a hydrothermal method at 95°C. The dye used was cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,2′-bipyridyl-4,4′-dicarboxylato)-ruthenium(II) bis-tetrabutylam-monium (N-719). At AM1.5G irradiation with 100mW∕cm2 light intensity, the DSSC based on ZnO-nanoflower film showed an energy conversion efficiency of 1.9%, which is much higher compared to that (1.0%) of the control device constructed using a photoanode of upstanding ZnO-nanorod array fabricated by hydrothermal method as well. The better performance of ZnO-nanoflower DSSC was due to a better dye loading and light harvesting of the ZnO-nanoflower film. The results demonstrate potential application of ZnO-nanoflower array for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.

We report a high-bendability flexible dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on a ZnO-nanowire photoelectrode, which was fabricated on polyethylene terephtalate/indium tin oxide substrate by low-temperature hydrothermal growth. Nanowire morphology shows preferable in crack resistance due to its efficient release of bending stress. The ZnO-nanowire film can be bended to an extreme radius of 2mm with no crack observed. Flexible DSSCs based on this kind of ZnO-nanowire photoelectrodes showed good bending stability. With a ZnO-nanoparticle modification on the nanowires, the flexible DSSC fabricated showed a much improved power conversion efficiency. Meanwhile, the good bendablility of this nanoparticle-modified nanowire electrode is maintained. The results demonstrate that high quality ZnO nanowires fabricated by the low-temperature method is promising for efficient and flexible plastic solar cells.