Direct Low-Temperature Growth of Single-Crystalline Anatase TiO₂ Nanorod Arrays on Transparent Conducting Oxide Substrates for Use in PbS Quantum-Dot Solar Cells

We report on the direct growth of anatase TiO₂ nanorod arrays (A-NRs) on transparent conducting oxide (TCO) substrates that can be directly applied to various photovoltaic devices via a seed layer mediated epitaxial growth using a facile low-temperature hydrothermal method. We found that the crystallinity of the seed layer and the addition of an amine functional group play crucial roles in the A-NR growth process. The A-NRs exhibit a pure anatase phase with a high crystallinity and preferred growth orientation in the [001] direction. Importantly, for depleted heterojunction solar cells (TiO₂/PbS), the A-NRs improve both electron transport and injection properties, thereby largely increasing the short-circuit current density and doubling their efficiency compared to TiO₂ nanoparticle-based solar cells