Improved performance of dye solar cells using nanocarbon as support for platinum nanoparticles in counter electrode

Abstract Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) were used to support platinum nanoparticles as counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Carbon nanoparticles provided larger effective surface area and better exposure of Pt nanoparticles resulting in very efficient electrocatalytic performance as counter electrode. DSCs fabricated using such counter electrode showed enhanced efficiency owing to lower series resistance and higher fill factor as a result of reduced charge transfer resistance. The overall power conversion efficiency of the DSC devices using these CNP/Pt counter electrodes reached 8.12% as compared to 7.49% for reference platinum counter electrode DSCs under 1 sun illumination.

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