Titanium oxide (TiO) electrode has been the most commonly used photo-electrode for the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Several research 2 groups have already reported that only TiO layer is not yet ideal for electron transfer in the absence of space charge layer and also demonstrated 2 the procedures for coating nanocrystalline semiconducting oxide films with a thin overcoat of a different semiconducting oxide with a higher conduction band energy level (E). Zirconium oxide (ZrO) is a suitable material for such overcoat because of its higher E. The binary C 2 C o TiO-ZrO oxide photo-electrodes were prepared by doctor blading technique. The electrodes were annealed at 450 C and then sensitized by 2 2 Rose Bengal (RB) dye. The DSSC fabricated by binary TiO-ZrO photo-electrode showed improved solar energy conversion efficiency than that 2 2 of fabricated only by pure component of TiO .

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Zirconium oxide (ZrO ) thin films were deposited by spray pyrolysis technique using precursor solution of zirconyl chloride octahydrate 2 o (ZrOCl .8H O) on glass substrate at 450 C. The effects of concentration of precursor solution on the structural and optical properties of ZrO 2 2 2films were investigated. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive Xray spectroscopy (EDX), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis analysis and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The films were amorphous in nature at 0.025 M concentration and it was observed that crystallinity increases with increase in concentration of precursor solution. The crystalline films exhibited cubic zirconium oxide (c-ZrO ) phase. The surface morphology of the films was strongly 2 influenced by the concentration of the precursor solution. The EDX study confirmed the existence of Zr and O. The TEM images showed nanosized as well as agglomerated ZrO particles with the average particle size < 20 nm. The well-crystallized cubic phase of the films was 2 further enlightened by selected area electron diffraction patterns. The UV-vis study showed that the optical band gap values were decreased with decrease in concentration of precursor solution. The formation of zirconium oxide was further confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy.

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