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A Reusable N‐Doped‐Carbon‐Coated Mo 2 C Composite Counter Electrode for High‐Efficiency Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells
Author(s) -
Wang Ting,
Wang Jiabo,
Chen Weilin,
Zheng Xiaotao,
Wang Enbo
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201703519
Subject(s) - dye sensitized solar cell , auxiliary electrode , materials science , electrolyte , chemical engineering , energy conversion efficiency , catalysis , tin oxide , electrode , inorganic chemistry , doping , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
The design and development of efficient and stable nonprecious‐metal‐based catalysts for counter electrodes (CEs) in dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) has received a great deal of attention. In this work, molybdenum carbide nanoparticles homogeneously distributed in a nitrogen‐rich carbon matrix (Mo 2 C@NC) have been synthesized from inexpensive raw materials (polyoxometalate and dicyandiamide) by a facile one‐step solid‐phase synthesis method. The novel Mo 2 C@NC hybrid was not only used as a CE in a DSSC, but also showed superior catalytic activity towards I 3 − /I − as a redox electrolyte. The power conversion efficiency of a DSSC with Mo 2 C@NC as the CE was as high as 6.49 %, comparable to that with Pt (6.38 %). The CE was prepared by a drop‐coating method, without the addition of another conductive polymer. Most importantly, the method circumvents the problem of the sample falling off from the fluorine‐doped tin oxide (FTO), and the CE could be repeatedly reused with unchanged efficiency. Therefore, it opens the way for the development of platinum‐free catalysts with low cost, simple processing, good stability, and high efficiency.