Abstract: The synthesis of ZnO architecture on a fluorine-doped SnO₂ (FTO) conducting glass pre-coated with nanoporous TiO₂ film has been achieved by a one-step hydrothermal method at a temperature of 70 ℃. The effect of the reaction time on the morphology of the ZnO architecture has been investigated, and a possible growth mechanism for the formation of the ZnO architecture is discussed in detail. The morphology and phase structures of the as-obtained composite films have been investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that the growth time greatly affects the morphology of the obtained ZnO architecture. The photoelectrochemical performances of as-prepared composite films are measured by assembling them into dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The DSSC based on the as-prepared composite film (2 h) has obtained the best power conversion efficiency of 1.845%.

Key words: ZnO architecture, nanoporous TiO₂ film, hydrothermal synthesis