Plasmonic ZrN@TiO₂ core-shell nanostructure enhancing photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells

Adding the plasmon optical material into DSSC photoanode has been demonstrated to be an promising method for enhancing the photoelectric conversion ability of photoanode sensitized with presently commercial dye. Zirconium nitride (ZrN) based on relatively cheap Earth-abundant elements is a highly potential alternative to noble plasmon gold. Herein plasmonic ZrN@TiO₂ core-shell nanostructures are fabricated and incorporated into the photoanode of DSSC. Related results show that ZrN@TiO₂ nanostructure indeed can efficiently improve the photovoltaic performance of corresponding DSSC. The DSSC doped with ZrN@TiO₂ yields the champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.6%. Spectroscopic investigation and theoretical study demonstrate that plasmon effects originated from ZrN can effectively boost the light absorption of dye molecules and accelerate the photogenerated carrier separation, thus elevating the overall harvesting-conversion efficiency of photoanode for light and contributing to the improvement of DSSC photovoltaic performance. This work may offer a kind of new material support to further develop DSSC and provide experimental foundation for the application of ZrN in other solar energy utilization field.