Recent Progress on Preparation of Transition Metal Compounds as Counter Electrodes for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

doi:10.15541/jim20150283

Abstract

Abstract:

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted extensive attention in recent years due to their simple fabrication, low cost and environmental friendliness. The production process for counter electrode (CE) as one of the key components of DSSC, will significantly affect the DSSCs development and application. Therefore, it is important to develop low cost and high performance catalytic materials instead of noble metal Pt to reduce the production cost of DSSC. Transition metal compounds with Pt-like catalytic activity have become a hot research area for CEs of DSSC in recent years, due to their wide variety and simple preparation. This review briefly addresses recent progresses of transition metal compound CEs of DSSC, focusing on their preparation methods and performance. In addition, the development trends and application prospects of CEs were also discussed.

Key words: dye-sensitized solar cells, counter electrode, transition metal compound, preparation method, review

CLC Number:

TK513

ZHANG Chen-Le, ZHANG Pei-Xin, YUN Si-Ning, LI Yong-Liang, HE Ting-Shu. Recent Progress on Preparation of Transition Metal Compounds as Counter Electrodes for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2016, 31(2): 113-122.

Figures/Tables 12

Fig. 1 Schematic for the synthesis of ordered mesoporous TiN-C nanocomposites, photocurrent-voltage curves of DSCs employing the Pt/FTO, and TiN-C/FTO counter electrodes (insets) [22]

Fig. 2 Schematic illustration for the chemical synthesis of TMCs by using a urea-metal route[23]

Fig. 3 (a-d) SEM and TEM images (inset of c) of the TaOX[27], Ta2O5[28],VC(N)[18] and VN[26]

Fig. 4 Overall procedure for the fabrication of MS/graphene composite CEs for DSSCs:(a) Reaction equation of MS precursor preparation; (b) Well dispersed MS precursor solutions in acetone and ethanol solvents; (c) Dielectric SiO2 substrate; (d) Graphene film directly grown on SiO2 substrate; (e) MS NPs loaded on the graphene surface; (f) Application of MS/graphene composite CEs in DSSCs[33]

Fig. 5 (a-b) AFM images of 10 nm V2O5 deposited on Spiro-OMeTAD at 0.05 nm·s[34]

Fig. 6 (a-b) Typical SEM images of cobalt selenide electrode prepared at pH=3.5, (c) typical TEM image of the cobalt selenide layers peeled from the electrodeposited films, and (d) HTEM showing (101) lattice fringes of (c)[43]

Fig. 7 (a) XRD patterns and the corresponding simulated XRD data for NiSe2 (PDF #65-1843), and (b) typical SEM image of the NiSe2 particles[50]

Fig. 8 (a) Cyclic voltammograms of the triiodide/iodide redox couple for CoTe, NiTe2 and Pt CEs, (b) nyquist plots of EIS for the symmetrical cells, (c) tafel polarization curves of the symmetrical cells, and (d) J-V curves of the DSCs based on CoTe, NiTe2, and Pt CEs[59]

Fig. 9 (a) SEM image with EDS spectrum (inset); (b) TEM image with high magnification TEM image (inset) acquired from electrospun TiC/C nano-felt; (c) SEM image with EDS spectrum (inset), and (d) TEM image with high magnifycation TEM image (inset) acquired from electrospun TiC/C nano-felt after surface-decoration with Pt NPs[60]

Fig. 10 Energy profiles of the whole CE reaction on Pt(111), Fe2O3(104) and Fe2O3(012), respectively, which were calculated at U=0.61 V(vs SHE)[61]

Fig. 11 (a) The projected density of state (DOS) on the d orbital of Pt and Hf atoms, and (b) the atomic distance variation with respect to time for I atoms in I3 and S atoms in T2 on Pt and HfO2[21]

Table 1 Photovoltaic parameters of dye-sensitized solar cells with different substrates, redox couples, dyes, and CE catalysts

CE catalysts	Substrate	Redox couples	Dye	J_sc/ (mA·cm^-2)	V_oc/V	FF	PCE/%	Ref
C_0.85Se	FTO	I^-/I₃^-	N719	16.98	0.738	0.75	9.40	[49]
TiC	FTO	Co²⁺/Co³⁺	N719	9.77	0.640	0.66	4.13	[63]
Carbon/SnO₂/TiO₂	FTO	I^-/I₃^-	N3	12.98	0.740	0.64	6.15	[66]
NiO-Pt	FTO	I^-/I₃^-	Ru535	0.30	0.530	0.63	2.80	[71]
Co₉S₈	Mo	I^-/I₃^-	N719	13.98	0.720	0.69	6.91	[32]
TiN	Ti	I^-/I₃^-	N719	15.78	0.760	0.64	7.73	[67]
TiN/PEDOT-PSS	Ti	I^-/I₃^-	CYC-B1	14.20	0.68	0.69	6.67	[69]
NiS	Ni	I^-/I₃^-	N719	16.26	0.800	0.66	8.55	[45]
TiC	BG/CC	I^-/I₃^-	N719	12.98	0.790	0.56	5.71	[68]
TiC	PI/CC	I^-/I₃^-	N719	12.32	0.770	0.41	3.90	[68]
FeS₂	ITO/PEN	I^-/I₃^-	N719	15.14	0.710	0.68	7.31	[31]
CoS	ITO/PEN	I^-/I₃^-	Z907	11.91	0.750	0.73	6.50	[41]
TiO₂-C	FTO	I^-/I₃^-	Z907	12.53	0.700	0.57	5.50	[70]
CoS	ITO/PEN	T₂/T^-	Z907	14.60	0.643	0.49	4.60	[65]
TiN-C	FTO	T₂/T^-	N719	14.36	0.697	0.67	6.71	[22]
Ta₃N₅/Graphene	FTO	Co²⁺/Co³⁺	FNE29	13.53	0.837	0.69	7.85	[64]

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