Nitrogen-doped carbon and iron carbide nanocomposites as cost-effective counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells | Zendy

Hongxia Xu | Zendy; Chuanjian Zhang | Zendy; Zaiwei Wang | Zendy; Shuping Pang | Zendy; Xinhong Zhou | Zendy; Zhongyi Zhang | Zendy; Guanglei Cui | Zendy

Open Access

Nitrogen-doped carbon and iron carbide nanocomposites as cost-effective counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells

Author(s) -

Hongxia Xu,

Chuanjian Zhang,

Zaiwei Wang,

Shuping Pang,

Xinhong Zhou,

Zhongyi Zhang,

Guanglei Cui

Publication year - 2014

Publication title -

journal of materials chemistry a

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 3.637

H-Index - 212

eISSN - 2050-7488

pISSN - 2050-7496

DOI - 10.1039/c3ta14429a

Subject(s) - auxiliary electrode , nanocomposite , dye sensitized solar cell , carbide , materials science , carbon fibers , electrode , doping , nitrogen , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , inorganic chemistry , optoelectronics , chemistry , metallurgy , composite material , composite number , organic chemistry , engineering , electrolyte

Hierarchical nanocomposites of iron carbide (Fe3C) encaged in nitrogen-doped carbon (N–C) were prepared by using a simple carbothermal reduction of iron(II) oxalate (FeC2O4) nanowires in the presence of cyanamide (NH2CN) at 600 °C. Such Fe3C@N–C nanocomposites delivered fair electrocatalytic activity for the I3−/I− redox reaction. As a result, when explored as cost-effective counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells, an efficiency of 7.36% was achieved, which was comparable to that of the cell with a Pt–FTO counter electrode (7.15%) under the same experimental conditions. The good electrochemical performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of the combination of N–C and Fe3C and the one dimensional configuration, which endows the nanocomposites with more interfacial active sites and improved electron transfer efficiency for the reduction of I3−/I−.

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Having issues? You can contact us here

Accelerating Research