Solvothermal synthesis of 3D hierarchical rutile TiO2 nanostructures for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

[Display omitted] •3D hierarchical rutile TiO2 nanostructures.•Effect of Precursor was studied on the nanostructures of TiO2.•The dye-sensitized solar cell was fabricated using TiO2 nanotubes as a photoanode.•We have achieved an energy conversion efficiency of 1.12 %. 3D hierarchical rutile TiO2 nanostructures were successfully prepared using the solvothermal method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the formation of the anatase phase. A high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) shows that several hundred radially distributed nanofibers with a length of 1 μm were self-assembled to form a nanostructure. Current vs voltage (I-V) measurements for the cone-shaped nanostructure showed a short circuit current density (Isc) of 2.8 mA/cm2, an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.70 V, and the fill factor (FF) is 0.55. The efficiency obtained for cone-shaped hierarchical rutile TiO2 structures was 1.12 %.