Highly transparent ultrathin metal sulfide films as efficient counter electrodes for bifacial dye-sensitized solar cells. (10th July 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hu, Zhelu; Xia, Kai; Zhang, Jing; Hu, Ziyang; Zhu, Yuejin
• Is Part Of: Electrochimica acta. Volume 170(2015)
• Page Start: 39
• Page End: 47
• Publication Date: 2015-07-10
• Subjects: Nickel sulfide -- Molybdenum sulfide -- Transparent counter electrode -- Bifacial dye-sensitized solar cells -- One-step hydrothermal method; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; Electrochemistry, Industrial -- Periodicals; 541.37
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2015.04.118
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-4686

Abstract

Abstract: Highly transparent metal sulfides (Ni3 S4, MoS2 ) are directly deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates as effective Pt-free counter electrodes (CEs) for novel bifacial dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The blocky-like Ni3 S4 and petal-shaped MoS2 nanoparticles (NPs) possess large surface area, which provides amount of active site to contact with electrolyte. The films not only show high transmittance at visible wavelengths, but also exhibit prominent electrocataltytic activity and outstanding metallic conductivity in iodine/iodide based bifacial DSSCs. Under front-side irradiation (100 mW/cm 2 ), the bifacial DSSC based on the transparent Ni3 S4 or MoS2 CE presents remarkable photovoltaic conversion efficiency (Eff = 6.56%, 6.11%, respectively), closing to that of conventional Pt CE (Eff = 6.83%). Moreover, by appending an ordinary mirror as a photo reflector to achieve both-side illumination, the bifacial DSSC using the transparent Ni3 S4 or MoS2 sample as CE obtained higher short-circuit current density (Jsc ) and more attractive power conversion efficiency (PCE) (Eff = 7.06%, 6.65%, respectively). It indicates that the as-prepared transparent Ni3 S4 and MoS2 CEs are promising potential candidates to explore low-cost and high-efficiency bifacial DSSCs.