One-pot synthesis of uniform TiO2 nanorods and monodisperse TiO2 microspheres and their light scattering properties

The large-scale highly ordered TiO2 nanorods and monodisperse TiO2 microspheres were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route. Under the same conditions, the TiO2 nanorod arrays were directly obtained on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate, while the monodisperse TiO2 microspheres were obtained at the bottom of Teflon-lined autoclave without the FTO substrate. The as-prepared TiO2 microspheres are found to be composed of radial single-crystal rutile TiO2 nanorods. The FTO substrate plays a crucial role in the oriented growth of nanorod arrays. Accordingly, a possible mechanism for the formation of TiO2 nanorod arrays and TiO2 microspheres was proposed. The light scattering properties of TiO2 nanorod arrays and TiO2 microspheres were characterized by the UV-Vis spectrometry. The superior light scattering properties of TiO2 microspheres makes them promising materials for applications in the solar cells.