Abstract
Novel nickel nitroprusside (NNP) nanoparticles with incorporated graphene nanoplatelets (NNP/GnP) were used for the first time as a low-cost and effective counter electrode (CE) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). NNP was synthesized at a low-temperature (25 °C) solution process with suitable purity and crystallinity with a size range from 5 to 10 nm, as confirmed by different spectroscopic and microscopic analyses. The incorporation of an optimized amount of GnP (0.2 wt%) into the NNP significantly improved the electrocatalytic behavior for the redox reaction of iodide (I−)/tri-iodide (I3−) by decreasing the charge-transfer resistance at the CE/electrolyte interface, lower than the NNP- and GnP-CEs, and comparable to the Pt-CE. The NNP/GnP nanohybrid CE when applied in DSSC exhibited a PCE of 6.13% (under one sun illumination conditions) with the Jsc, Voc, and FF of 14.22 mA/cm2, 0.628 V, and 68.68%, respectively, while the PCE of the reference Pt-CE-based DSSC was 6.37% (Jsc = 14.47 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.635 V, and FF = 69.20%). The low cost of the NNP/GnP hybrid CE with comparable photovoltaic performance to Pt-CE can be potentially exploited as a suitable replacement of Pt-CE in DSSCs.
Highlights
For about three decades, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have gained considerable attention as one of the promising alternatives to silicon solar cells due to their environmental friendliness, simple fabrication process, and low cost [1,2]
The low cost of the nickel nitroprusside (NNP)/GnP hybrid counter electrode (CE) with comparable photovoltaic performance to Pt-CE can be potentially exploited as a suitable replacement of Pt-CE in DSSCs
The reported maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of DSSCs is only about 14% [3,4], which plagued the commercialization of DSSCs
Summary
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have gained considerable attention as one of the promising alternatives to silicon solar cells due to their environmental friendliness, simple fabrication process, and low cost [1,2]. Ni and its compounds (e.g., oxides, sulfides, ternary sulfides, phosphides) are potentially suitable CE materials because of their decent corrosion resistance to the I− /I3 − redox mediator and low cost [11,16,17,18,19,20] Their electrocatalytic activity for the redox reaction of I− /I3 − and electrical conductivity is inadequate for developing high-performance. Attempts were made to enhance the conductivity as well as the overall catalytic activity by preparing Ni nanostructure and its compounds-based composites or hybrid CEs using CPs [17,20,23], graphene [11,19,22,24], and CPs-graphene [25]. The optimized NNP/GnP-CE demonstrated significantly improved PCE compared to the NNPand GnP-CEs in DSSCs, and it exhibited a PCE comparable to that of the cell with Pt-CE
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