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Nano Research

Article Title

Ni1−x Pt x (x=0–0.08) films as the photocathode of dye-sensitized solar cells with high efficiency

Keywords

Ni1–xPtx fi lms, chemical plating, nanoparticles, photocathode, dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Films of Ni1 xPtx (x=0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, and 0.08) have been prepared on fluorine-doped tin oxide-coated (FTO) glass substrates by a chemical plating method and used as the photocathode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The Ni0.94Pt0.06 film consisted of nanoparticles with a size of 4 6 nm and a Pt loading of 5.13 μg/cm2 . The Ni0.94Pt0.06 photocathode exhibited high catalytic performance toward triiodide reduction, high light refl ectance, and low charge-transfer resistance. The DSC assembled with the Ni0.94Pt0.06 photocathode gave a short-circuit photocurrent density ( Jsc) of 16.79 mA/cm2 , an open-circuit photovoltage (Voc) of 736 mV, and a fi ll factor (FF) of 66.4%, corresponding to an overall conversion effi ciency of 8.21% under standard AM 1.5 irradiation (100 mW/cm2 ), which is higher than that for the DSC with a pure Pt photocathode obtained by conventional thermal decomposition. Furthermore, the DSC based on the Ni0.94Pt0.06 photocathode showed good stability. The results indicate that Ni0.94Pt0.06 fi lms are promising low- cost and high-performance photocathodes for use in DSCs.

Graphical Abstract

Publisher

Tsinghua University Press

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