Nanostructured ZrO2-coated TiO2 electrodes for dye-sensitised solar cells

Thin films of ZrO2 were deposited on nanostructured anatase TiO2 electrodes via sol-gel route and utilised in the assembly of a dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) forming nanostructured core-shell networks. The ZrO2-coated TiO2 electrodes were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and constructing a DSSC. The characterisation concluded that core-shell morphologies were produced with varying ZrO2 shell thickness without altering the anatase TiO2 core. When a DSSC was constructed from the ZrO2:TiO2 Core-shell electrode, the efficiency increased to 2.27% from 0.42% for the uncoated TiO2 electrode. As the ZrO2 shell thickness increased, the cell efficiency was reduced.