10.1021/ja209657v.s001
Mingxing Wu
Mingxing
Wu
Xiao Lin
Xiao
Lin
Yudi Wang
Yudi
Wang
Liang Wang
Liang
Wang
Wei Guo
Wei
Guo
Daidi Qi
Daidi
Qi
Xiaojun Peng
Xiaojun
Peng
Anders Hagfeldt
Anders
Hagfeldt
Michael Grätzel
Michael
Grätzel
Tingli Ma
Tingli
Ma
Economical Pt-Free Catalysts
for Counter Electrodes
of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
American Chemical Society
2012
counter electrodes
V 2O
redox couple
carbide catalysts
power conversion efficiency
PCE
DSC
Counter Electrodes
Cr 3C CrN
CE catalysts
photovoltaic performance
TiC
VC
VN
mesoporous carbon
Pt catalyst
2012-02-22 00:00:00
Journal contribution
https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Economical_Pt_Free_Catalysts_for_Counter_Electrodes_of_Dye_Sensitized_Solar_Cells/2547673
Three classes (carbides, nitrides and oxides) of nanoscaled
early-transition-metal
catalysts have been proposed to replace the expensive Pt catalyst
as counter electrodes (CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs).
Of these catalysts, Cr<sub>3</sub>C<sub>2</sub>, CrN, VC(N), VN, TiC,
TiC(N), TiN, and V<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> all showed excellent catalytic
activity for the reduction of I<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup> to
I<sup>–</sup> in the electrolyte. Further, VC embedded in mesoporous
carbon (VC–MC) was prepared through in situ synthesis. The
I<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup>/I<sup>–</sup> DSC based on
the VC–MC CE reached a high power conversion efficiency (PCE)
of 7.63%, comparable to the photovoltaic performance of the DSC using
a Pt CE (7.50%). In addition, the carbide catalysts demonstrated catalytic
activity higher than that of Pt for the regeneration of a new organic
redox couple of T<sub>2</sub>/T<sup>–</sup>. The T<sub>2</sub>/T<sup>–</sup> DSCs using TiC and VC–MC CEs showed
PCEs of 4.96 and 5.15%, much higher than that of the DSC using a Pt
CE (3.66%). This work expands the list of potential CE catalysts,
which can help reduce the cost of DSCs and thereby encourage their
fundamental research and commercial application.