Improved photoelectrical performance of single crystalline rutile TiO2 nanorod arrays incorporating α-alumina for high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells

[Display omitted] •Novel architecture titanium dioxide nanorod arrays incorporated alpha alumina.•Synthesized samples were used as a photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells.•Presence of nanorod arrays in alumina has been confirmed by electron microscopies.•Short-circuit current increases with alumina nanocrystals on titania nanorod arrays.•Photo-electric conversion efficiency of the device reached 6.5%. Novel architecture like TiO2 nanorod arrays (TNR) incorporating α-alumina (ATNR) thin film have been fabricated on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) by a modest and flexible doctor-blade technique based hydrothermal method. α-Al2O3, TNR and ATNR were used as a photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and their photovoltaic performance was evaluated. The crystallinity, presence of α-Al2O3 on TNR and morphology of the photoanodes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning microscopy and high-resolution transmission scanning microscopy. DSSCs fabricated with 1.0 wt% α-Al2O3 added TNR exhibited an improved open-circuit photo voltage of 0.68 V, short-circuit current density of 15.23 mA cm−2, fill factor of 0.63 and photo-electric conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.5%.