Photovoltaic properties of TiO2–ZrO2 fiber composite electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

•ZrO2 fibers were fabricated by sol–gel and electrospinning techniques.•TiO2-ZrO2 fiber composite electrode enhanced available surface area for dye loading.•TiO2-ZrO2 fiber composite electrode was improved to the electron transfer.•Energy conversion efficiency (η) of DSCs with TiO2–ZrO2-700 was 6.2%.•Energy conversion efficiency (η) increased by 26.5%.

ZrO2 fibers were fabricated by sol–gel and electrospinning techniques for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The addition of ZrO2 fibers into TiO2 electrodes provides good dye loading and an effective electron pathway to increase the charge transfer in the TiO2/electrolyte interface over conventional TiO2 electrode. Photo-electrochemical properties of TiO2–ZrO2 fiber composite electrodes and the performance of resultant DSCs were determined from their photovoltaic-current densities. Energy conversion efficiency of DSCs with a TiO2–ZrO2-700 composite electrode was 6.2%, an increase of 26.5% than pure TiO2 electrode of 4.9%. The electron recombination times of the pure TiO2 and TiO2–ZrO2-700 electrode were 15.94 and 21.69 ms, respectively.

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