Synergistic effect of Ni and Fe in Fe-doped NiS2 counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells: Experimental and DFT studies. (10th September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zheng, Jinlong; Guo, Zhonglu; Zhou, Wei; Zhang, Rongzun; Wang, Junxiang; Fan, Yuzun; Zhang, Rui; Sun, Zhimei
• Is Part Of: Electrochimica acta. Volume 284(2018)
• Page Start: 24
• Page End: 29
• Publication Date: 2018-09-10
• Subjects: Metal sulfide -- Dye-sensitized solar cell -- Counter electrode -- Density functional theory; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; Electrochemistry, Industrial -- Periodicals; 541.37
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2018.07.138
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-4686

Abstract

Abstract: Uniform Fe-doped NiS2 octahedrons with the size of ∼250 nm have been prepared by a hydrothermal method. The as-synthesized Fe-doped NiS2 octahedrons exhibit excellent electro-catalytic activity for the reduction of triiodide to iodide in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The DSC with Fe-doped NiS2 octahedrons CE demonstrates a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.01%, higher than those of NiS2 CE (6.90%) and FeS2 CE (4.13%). The enhanced efficiency is attributed to the synergistic effect between Ni and Fe ions in Fe-doped NiS2 octahedrons. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal the adsorption energy of I ( E I ad) increases from −0.14 eV (NiS2 ) to −0.65 eV (Fe-doped NiS2 ) after Fe doping, leading to an enhanced solar cell performance. This study indicates that the Fe-doped NiS2 octahedron is a promising substitute to develop non-Pt CEs in DSCs.