In situ synthesis of binded, thick and porous carbon nanoparticle dye sensitized solar cell counter electrode with nickel gel as catalyst source

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• 作者：Wei Zeng ; Guojia Fang ; Tianyang Han ; Borui Li ; Nishuang Liu ; Dongshan Zhao ; Zhiqiang Liu ; Dianyuan Wang ; Xingzhong Zhao ; Dechun Zou
• 关键词：Nickel gel ; Titanium dioxide ; Flame synthesis ; Carbon nanoparticle counter electrode ; Dye sensitized solar cell ; Mass transport
• 刊名：Journal of Power Sources
• 出版年：2014
• 出版时间：1 January, 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：245
• 期：Complete
• 页码：456-462
• 全文大小：2045 K

文摘

A TiO₂-embedded NiCl₂ gel is prepared and used as growth catalyst to in situ synthesize binded, thick and porous carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) on Ti foil substrate with a simple flame synthesis method for dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) counter electrode (CE) applications. The viscous gel catalyst can hold sufficient NiCl₂ coated on substrate to make CNP layer thick. The embedded TiO₂ can effectively separate the abundant NiCl₂ components to active the Ni catalyst for CNP growth and then make CNP layer become porous. In addition, the TiO₂ components can bind the porous CNP products to make them conductive. With an optimized TiO₂ fraction, the CE shows high catalytic ability and electrical conductivity. By applying this CNP CE for DSSC, a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 6.6 % is achieved, which exceeds 6.5 % of a reference cell using costly platinum as CE. Furthermore, the CNP structure is demonstrated beneficial to carrier transport by a mass transfer model. This easy and effective preparation method may have a potential application in general nanomaterial preparation.