Abstract: TiO2 nanorods were hydrothermally grown on the surface of a nanocrystalline TiO2 layer. The sub-layer was formed of TiO2 nanocrystals of 20 nm size with proper thickness. The over-grown TiO2 nanorods were inclined with a thickness about 2.5 µm. The bi-layer of TiO2 nanorods/TiO2 nanocrystals on the FTO glass substrate was applied as a photoanode of dye sensitized solar cells after the dye loading process. According to the result s the TiO2 nanorods did not demonstrate considerable extra dye loading. Instead, they could create a high level of light scattering compared to the simple nanocrystalline photoanode. This could result in 37% improvement in the energy conversion efficiency of corresponding cell and maximum efficiency of 6.2%.
