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Quantum‐Dot Sensitized Solar Cells Employing Hierarchical Cu 2 S Microspheres Wrapped by Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanosheets as Effective Counter Electrodes
Author(s) -
Ye Meidan,
Chen Chang,
Zhang Nan,
Wen Xiaoru,
Guo Wenxi,
Lin Changjian
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201301564
Subject(s) - materials science , graphene , electrode , quantum dot , auxiliary electrode , oxide , electrolyte , graphene quantum dot , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , metallurgy , chemistry , engineering
Hierarchical Cu 2 S microspheres wrapped by reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheets are prepared via a one‐step solvothermal process. The amount of graphene oxide used in the synthesis process has a remarkable effect on the features of Cu 2 S microspheres. Compared to Pt and Cu 2 S electrodes, RGO‐Cu 2 S electrodes show better electrocatalytic activity, greater stability, lower charge‐transfer resistance, and higher exchange current density. As expected, RGO‐Cu 2 S electrodes exhibit superior performance when functioning as counter electrodes in CdS/CdSe quantum dot‐sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) using a polysulfide electrolyte. A power conversion efficiency up to 3.85% is achieved for the QDSSC employing an optimized RGO‐Cu 2 S counter electrode, which is higher than those of the QDSSCs featuring Pt (2.14%) and Cu 2 S (3.39%) counter electrodes.