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Many materials have been tried as the counter electrode (CE) material as a substitute to the noble metal Pt in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The CE property is critical to the operation of a DSSC as it catalyzes the reduction of I3- ions and retrieves the electrons from the photoanode. Here we have explored the application of manganese dioxide (MnO2) and copper-doped manganese dioxide (Cu-MnO2) nanoparticles as CE candidates for DSSCs mainly as low-cost alternatives to Pt. A simple hydrothermal method was followed to synthesize α-MnO2 and Cu-MnO2 nanoparticles at a temperature of 140 °C for 14 h. The nanoparticles were characterized to prove its electrocatalytic abilities for DSSCs. DSSC devices fabricated with 10 wt% Cu-MnO2 as CE showed the best VOC of 781 mV, ISC of 3.69 mA/cm2, FF of 0.50, and %PCE of 1.7 whereas Pt as CE showed VOC of 780 mV, ISC of 14.8 mA/cm2, FF of 0.43, and %PCE of 5.83 under 0.85 Sun. The low-cost feature of using Cu-MnO2 is encouraging to further study the factors that can improve the efficiency of DSSCs with alternative CEs to conventional Pt electrodes.

Many materials have been explored as a counter electrode material to replace platinum electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In this work, CoxSy/NixSy/MoxSy composites at two different compositions, namely, CNM10, CNM25 were synthesized via hydrothermal method. The XRD, FE-SEM, and EDX analysis of the samples confirmed the formation of CNM10 and CNM25 composites. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) study of CNM10 and CNM25 electrodes showed faster triiodide ion reduction at the electrode/electrolyte interface than the Pt electrode. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies of CNM10 and CNM25 electrodes showed lower RCT values for both CNM10 and CNM25 electrodes than that of a Pt electrode. Tafel polarization measurement showed a higher limiting current value of CNM25 followed by CNM10 and Pt electrodes. Based on these studies, DSSCs were fabricated using CNM10, CNM25, and Pt CE. CNM25 CE showed an enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) (7.8%) with VOC of 824 mV, and JSC of 15.7 mA cm−2, whereas, Pt CE showed PCE of 6.5% with VOC of 775 mV and JSC of 13.2 mA cm−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expensive Pt counter electrodes remain an obstacle for the commercialization of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Therefore, research focusing on low-cost alternative counter electrode materials has been considered important for their commercialization. Here, the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells has been performed utilizing CoS2 and MoS2 coated CoS2 nanocomposite materials as the counter electrode, which are synthesized via a hydrothermal route involving low-cost precursor materials. The experimental results obtained from XRD, XPS, EDX, SEM, TEM, and Raman etc. have confirmed the successful formation of CoS2 and MoS2 coated CoS2 nanocomposites. The electrochemical characterization of these materials is performed, which suggests that the electrocatalytic activity towards the liquid iodine electrolyte of these materials is as good as that of the conventional Pt counter electrodes. So, dye-sensitized solar cell devices are fabricated by interpolating a (cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,2′-bipyridyl-4,4′-dicarboxylato)ruthenium(II)) dye-loaded TiO2 photoanode and CoS2, MoS2 coated CoS2 and Pt counter electrodes using iodine/iodide as a liquid electrolyte. The devices fabricated with CoS2 counter electrodes have shown an open circuit voltage of 790 mV, a short circuit current of 11.9 mA cm−2, a fill factor of 0.54, and a power conversion efficiency of 6%. On the other hand, the device based on a Pt counter electrode has shown an open circuit voltage of 773 mV, a short circuit current of 13.4 mA cm−2, a fill factor of 0.54, and a power conversion efficiency of 6.6%. In addition, MoS2 coated with a CoS2 counter electrode has shown the best performance with an open circuit voltage of 763 mV, a short circuit current of 20.1 mA cm−2, a fill factor of 0.42, and a power conversion efficiency of 7.6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expensive Pt counter electrodes remain an obstacle for the commercialization of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Therefore, research focusing on low-cost alternative counter electrode materials has been considered important for their commercialization. Here, the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells has been performed utilizing CoS 2 and MoS 2 coated CoS 2 nanocomposite materials as the counter electrode, which are synthesized via a hydrothermal route involving low-cost precursor materials. The experimental results obtained from XRD, XPS, EDX, SEM, TEM, and Raman etc. have confirmed the successful formation of CoS 2 and MoS 2 coated CoS 2 nanocomposites. The electrochemical characterization of these materials is performed, which suggests that the electrocatalytic activity towards the liquid iodine electrolyte of these materials is as good as that of the conventional Pt counter electrodes. So, dye-sensitized solar cell devices are fabricated by interpolating a (cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,2'-bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxylato)ruthenium(ii)) dye-loaded TiO 2 photoanode and CoS 2 , MoS 2 coated CoS 2 and Pt counter electrodes using iodine/iodide as a liquid electrolyte. The devices fabricated with CoS 2 counter electrodes have shown an open circuit voltage of 790 mV, a short circuit current of 11.9 mA cm -2 , a fill factor of 0.54, and a power conversion efficiency of 6%. On the other hand, the device based on a Pt counter electrode has shown an open circuit voltage of 773 mV, a short circuit current of 13.4 mA cm -2 , a fill factor of 0.54, and a power conversion efficiency of 6.6%. In addition, MoS 2 coated with a CoS 2 counter electrode has shown the best performance with an open circuit voltage of 763 mV, a short circuit current of 20.1 mA cm -2 , a fill factor of 0.42, and a power conversion efficiency of 7.6%.