Facile Synthesis of High-Crystallinity Graphitic Carbon/Fe3C Nanocomposites As Counter Electrodes for High-Efficiency Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
2013
Liao, Yongping | Pan, Kai | Wang, Lei | Pan, Qingjiang | Zhou, Wei | Miao, Xiaohuan | Jiang, Baojiang | Tian, Chungui | Tian, Guohui | Wang, Guofeng | Fu, Honggang
Because of the advantages of both rapid electron transport of graphitic carbon and high catalytic performance of Fe₃C nanoparticle, highly crystalline graphitic carbon (GC)/Fe₃C nanocomposites have been prepared by a facile solid-state pyrolysis approach and used as counter electrode materials for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The content of Fe₃C in the composites can be modified by different hydrochloric acid treatment time. In comparison with pure highly crystalline GC, the DSSC based on GC/Fe₃C nanocomposite with 13.5 wt % Fe₃C content shows higher conversion efficiency (6.04%), which indicates a comparable performance to the Pt-based DSSC (6.4%) as well. Moreover, not only does our DSSCs have comparable performance to that of the Pt-based DSSC (6.4%), but also is more cost-effective as well. To evaluate the chemical catalysis and stability of nanocomposite counter electrodes toward I₃– reduction and the interfacial charge transfer properties, GC/Fe₃C nanocomposites have been quantitatively characterized by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectra, and Tafel polarization curve. All the results have revealed that the GC/Fe₃C nanocomposite counter electrodes can exhibit high catalytic performance and fast interfacial electron transfer, which can be acted as a very promising and high cost-effective materital for DSSCs.
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