Thermally deposited palladium-tungsten carbide and platinum-tungsten carbide counter electrodes for a high performance dye-sensitized solar cell based on organic T−/T2 electrolyte

Abstract

Tungsten carbide (WC) particles (~1 μm) were dispersed in DI water and dropped onto conductive glass. The resulting WC films were used as dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) counter electrodes. The performance of the WC DSSC based on the by organic thiolate/disulfide (T−/T2 electrolyte was ~0.78%. The cell efficiency was greatly improved after decorating palladium (Pd) or platinum (Pt) nanoparticles on WC particles with a promising efficiency of ~2.15% for Pd–WC DSSC and ~4.62% for Pt–WC DSSC. The efficiency improvement of the composited (Pd–WC and Pt–WC) cells is attributed to co-functioning catalysts, the large electrode interfacial area and a low charge-transfer resistance at the electrolyte/counter electrode interface. Copyright © 2018 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved.