One-step solvothermal tailoring the compositions and phases of nickel cobalt sulfides on conducting oxide substrates as counter electrodes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Several nickel cobalt sulfide (Ni-Co-S) counter electrodes (CEs) are prepared, and the Ni-Co-S nanoparticles are in-situ grown on SnO2: F (FTO) transparent conductive glasses via a facile solvothermal process, in which thiourea is used as the sulfurizing reagent. The X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectrometer are employed to measure the microstructure and composition of the Ni-Co-S CEs. When a proper amount of thiourea is adopted, fine crystalline NiCo2S4 CE is obtained. When the amount of thiourea is small or large, (Ni,Co)4S3 or (Ni,Co)3S4 CE is acquired, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Tafel polarization and open-circuit voltage decay (OCVD) measurements all demonstrate that the electrocatalytic activities and electrical conductivities of these Ni-Co-S CEs all approach or exceed those of Pt-pyrolysis CE. Their superior electrochemical performances are further confirmed by fabricating DSSCs with the Ni-Co-S CEs, they display similar or better photo-electric conversion efficiencies to/than the Pt-pyrolysis counterpart.