Hydrothermal growth of TiO2 nanorod arrays and in situ conversion to nanotube arrays for highly efficient quantum dot-sensitized solar cells.

TiO2 nanorod (NR) and nanotube (NT) arrays grown on transparent conductive substrates are attractive electrode for solar cells. In this paper, TiO2 NR arrays are hydrothermally grown on FTO substrate, and are in situ converted into NT arrays by hydrothermally etching. The TiO2 NR arrays are reported as single crystalline, but the TiO2 NR arrays are demonstrated to be polycrystalline with a bundle of 2-5 nm single crystalline nanocolumns grown along [001] throughout the whole NR from bottom to top.

SnO2 nanorod arrays: low temperature growth, surface modification and field emission properties.

SnO(2) nanorod arrays have been deposited on 4 inch SiO(2)/Si and Si wafers and stainless steel substrates by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition without any high temperature treatment or additional catalysis. The SnO(2) nanorods grow up from seed nanocrystals along the [110] preferential direction by a self-catalyzed vapor-solid growth mechanism. The surface of the SnO(2) nanorods was modified by ZnO, Pt and Ni nanocrystals.