Synthesis and Characterizations of 3D TiO2 Nanoflowers Thin Film: Hydrothermal Method

The present paper reports the study of synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline rutile titanium dioxide thin film. TiO2 is an excellent semiconducting nanomaterial used to enhance the efficiency of DSSC. TiO2 thin film is prepared by single‐step hydrothermal route. Titanium (IV) isopropoxide is used as a precursor for titanium. In this synthesis, TiO2 thin film is grown on fluorine‐doped tin oxide substrate (F:SnO2) at 140 °C temperature for 3 h. Morphological, structural, and optical properties are analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR), energy dispersive x‐ray spectroscopy (EDS), and UV–vis spectrophotometer, respectively. Morphological analysis gives the growth of 3D nanoflowers on 1D nanorods. Also, it gives the formation of nanorods with width ranging from 0.2 to 0.5 µm and length of ∼3.5 µm. XRD pattern reveals that, there is formation of tetragonal rutile crystal structure having crystallite size 19 nm. The structural and elemental composition is determined by FT‐IR and EDS. The FT‐IR technique is used to confirm the Ti‐O bond formation at 407, 760, and 886 cm−1. The optical study reveals indirect band gap energy of 3 eV. The optical absorption of synthesized TiO2 thin film is mainly in the ultraviolet region. The enhancement of the photoelectrochemical activity allowed substitution of the TiO2 nanoflower/nanorod thin film for the traditional TiO2 nanorods used in solar cells.