Synthesis and characterization of hexagonal zinc oxide nanorods for Eosin-Y dye sensitized solar cell

In the present article, vertically aligned, hexagonal ZnO nanorods (ZNRs) were deposited on fluoride doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate using hydrothermal route. The as-synthesized ZnO thin film was subsequently annealed at 300 °C and characterized with various characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV–Vis-NIR spectroscopy. The hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure of ZnO thin film was confirmed by XRD pattern and the ZNRs were revealed from the SEM micrographs. The average diameter of ZNRs is 133 nm. Further, we have studied its dye sensitized solar cell performance by using Eosin-Y dye.