Solvent assisted evolution and growth mechanism of zero to three dimensional ZnO nanostructures for dye sensitized solar cell applications

We report the structural engineering of ZnO nanostructures by a consistent solution method using distinct solvents such as ethylene glycol, 1-butanol, acetic acid and water. The growth kinetics are found to depend strongly on the physicochemical properties of the solvent and zeta potential of the colloidal solution. Furthermore, the resulting nanostructures as a photoanode material, displayed a prominent structure dependent property in...