Abstract
Uniform mesoporous single-crystal TiO
2
spheres with radial channels from driving orientation assembly can be used for energy storage.
Highly crystalline mesoporous materials with oriented configurations are in demand for high-performance energy conversion devices. We report a simple evaporation-driven oriented assembly method to synthesize three-dimensional open mesoporous TiO
2
microspheres with a diameter of ~800 nm, well-controlled radially oriented hexagonal mesochannels, and crystalline anatase walls. The mesoporous TiO
2
spheres have a large accessible surface area (112 m
2
/g), a large pore volume (0.164 cm
3
/g), and highly single-crystal–like anatase walls with dominant (101) exposed facets, making them ideal for conducting mesoscopic photoanode films. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on the mesoporous TiO
2
microspheres and commercial dye N719 have a photoelectric conversion efficiency of up to 12.1%. This evaporation-driven approach can create opportunities for tailoring the orientation of inorganic building blocks in the assembly of various mesoporous materials.