Zirconium oxide films: deposition techniques and their applications in dye-sensitized solar cells

Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) is acquiring considerable attention of most of the research groups and leading to a large number of publications due to its unique properties, especially in the context of emerging trends in the third generation of solar cell research. ZrO2 films offer magnificent aspects related to physicochemical properties, and the properties are found to be dependent on synthesis methods. In the present review, various deposition techniques used to grow zirconium oxide thin films and their application to enhance the quantum efficiency of titanium oxide (TiO2) based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are discussed. Also, the modulated performances of DSSCs fabricated by growing the conformal ZrO2 insulating films to retard interfacial recombination dynamics on preformed TiO2 films are discussed.