Controllable growth of dendritic ZnO nanowire arrays on a stainless steel mesh towards the fabrication of large area, flexible dye-sensitized solar cells

Well-defined ZnO nanowire (NW) arrays with controlled dendritic structures were successfully built on a stainless steel mesh and utilized as photoanodes for the fabrication of large-area, flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The dendritic nanostructure proves favorable for the improvement of the overall light conversion efficiency of the DSSC. An optimized etching time for the affixion of ZnO seeds on the ZnO backbone of the dendritic "tree" and the controlled growth conditions of the branch NW are critical to achieve high conversion efficiency solar cells.