Synthesis and characterizations of large surface tungsten oxide nanoparticles as a novel counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract

Tungsten oxide (WO3) nanoparticles have been prepared by the chemical precipitation technique. The powder X-ray diffraction was carried out to ascertain the crystallinity and the crystal structure associated with the as-synthesized WO3 nanoparticles. The average crystallite size of WO3 nanoparticles was calculated by Scherrer’s method and was found to be about 3 nm. The metal oxide composition and the stoichiometry of the as-synthesized WO3 nanoparticles were assessed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy measurement. The surface morphology of WO3 nanoparticles was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis confirms that the WO3 nanoparticles have large surface area of 240.56 m2 g−1 and pore volume of 0.1157 cc g−1 which were essential criteria to design a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The structure of core levels W4f and O1s was explored by XPS method. The incorporation of WO3 as a counter electrode in DSSC resulted in the power conversion efficiency of 0.98 %. Furthermore, the easy availability and environmental friendly properties of the WO3 would be very promising to accelerate the large-scale applications of DSSC in the future. WO3 could be a useful substitute. WO3-based DSSC working mechanism.