One-step synthesis of nano-scaled tungsten oxides and carbides for dye-sensitized solar cells as counter electrode catalysts

Design a novel kind of open-ended carbon sphere for a highly effective counter electrode catalyst in dye-sensitized solar cells

“…Unlike the semiconductor, dye, and redox shuttle components, counter electrode (CE) catalysts are often overlooked. Fortunately, CE catalysts begun to attract increasing attention, as a class of new CE catalysts, such as carbon materials, [9][10][11][12] organic polymers, [13][14][15][16] and metal compounds [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] have been applied to replace conventional noble Pt CE. Among these Pt-free materials, carbon is a promising CE catalyst for use in DSCs because of its low cost, high conductivity, high catalytic activity, ready availability, high thermal stability, and corrosion resistance.…”

Recent advancement in the performance of solar cells by incorporating transition metal dichalcogenides as counter electrode and photoabsorber

“…The electrolytic properties of CEs were studied from Nyquist plot for Pt, MoS 2 ‐NPs, FL‐MoS 2 , and ML‐MoS 2 , as illustrated in Figure C. The Nyquist plot consists of two semicircles: The one in high‐frequency region signifies charge transfer process in electrodes and electrolyte, whereas the other in low‐frequency region attributes to Nernst diffusion of triiodide ion . The Nyquist plot for MoS 2 is different from Pt in a way that the radius of semicircle in high‐frequency region is quite larger than the one that lies in low‐frequency region (Figure C).…”

Mesoporous carbon-imbedded W2C composites as flexible counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

“…26 In details,polyethylene polypropylene glycol (F127, 2.5 g) was added to a solution containing water (10 mL) and ethanol (10 mL) and then stirred for 30 min. Resorcinol (1.6 g) and HCl (0.2 g, 37 wt %) were then added to the solution and stirred for 1 h. Subsequently, formaldehyde (2.4 g, 37 wt %) was added to the solution.…”

“…In CV measurements, Pt served as the counter electrode and Ag/Ag Results and discussion 1. Materials' synthesis and characterization W 2 C and MC were prepared according to previous report, 26 and the experimental details are summarized in the experimental section. A W 2 C phase was successfully prepared as showed by XRD patterns (Fig.…”