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Vol. 7 No. 3 (2015)

Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity by RGO/MWCNTs/NiO Counter Electrode for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-015-0043-7
Majid Raissan Al-bahrani
Center for Nanoscale Characterization & Devices, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, People’s Republic of China
Waqar Ahmad
Center for Nanoscale Characterization & Devices, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, People’s Republic of China
Hadja Fatima Mehnane
School of Physics and Technology and Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structure of Ministry of Education, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, People’s Republic of China
Ying Chen
Center for Nanoscale Characterization & Devices, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, People’s Republic of China
Ze Cheng
School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, People’s Republic of China
Yihua Gao
Center for Nanoscale Characterization & Devices, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Yihua Gao

gaoyihua@hust.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 7 No. 3 (2015), Article Number: 298-306

Abstract

We applied the reduced graphene oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes/nickel oxide (RGO/MWCNTs/NiO) nanocomposite as the counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrates by blade doctor method. Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.13 % was achieved for this DSSCs device, which is higher than that of DSSCs devices using NiO, RGO, and RGO/NiO-CE (PCE = 2.71 %, PCE = 6.77 % and PCE = 7.63 %). Also, the fill factor of the DSSCs devices using the RGO/MWCNTs/NiO-CE was better than that of other CEs. The electron transfer measurement of cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that RGO/MWCNTs/NiO film could provide fast electron transfer between the CE and the electrolyte, and high electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of triiodide in a CE based on RGO/MWCNTs/NiO in a DSSC.

Keywords

Graphene oxide Carbon nanotubes Nickel oxide Counter electrode Dye-sensitized solar cells
Al-bahrani, Majid Raissan, Waqar Ahmad, Hadja Fatima Mehnane, Ying Chen, Ze Cheng, and Yihua Gao. 2015. “Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity by RGO/MWCNTs/NiO Counter Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells”. Nano-Micro Letters 7 (3):298-306. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-015-0043-7.
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