Ultrafast proton-assisted tunneling through ZrO2 in dye-sensitized SnO2-core/ZrO2-shell films†
John R.
Swierk, 
*a
Svante
Hedström,
‡a
Steven J.
Konezny,
*a
Coleen T.
Nemes,
a
Pengtao
Xu,
b
Victor S.
Batista,
*a
Thomas E.
Mallouk
*bc
and
Charles A.
Schmuttenmaer
*a
*a
Svante
Hedström,
‡a
Steven J.
Konezny,
*a
Coleen T.
Nemes,
a
Pengtao
Xu,
b
Victor S.
Batista,
*a
Thomas E.
Mallouk
*bc
and
Charles A.
Schmuttenmaer
*a
Abstract
Core–shell architectures are used to modulate injection and recombination in dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells. Here, we demonstrate that exposing SnO2-core/ZrO2-shell films to acid permits photoinduced electron transfer through ZrO2-shells at least 4 nm thick. A novel mechanism of charge transfer is proposed where protonic defects permit ultrafast trap-assisted tunneling of electrons.
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