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One-step in situ growing CoS1.097 nanoplates on flexible graphite paper as efficient and stable FTO-free counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

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Abstract

Hexagonal single crystal CoS1.097 nanoplates with the size of 200~500 nm have successfully in situ grown on flexible graphite paper (GP) and FTO substrates with a one-step hydrothermal method, which are used as counter electrodes (CEs) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and show different microstructures and different electrocatalytic activities for I3− reduction. The DSSC based on CoS1.097/GP CE shows larger fill factor and higher short-circuit current density than the DSSCs with Pt/FTO CE and CoS1.097/FTO CE, which attribute to the excellent electrical conductivity of GP and predominant electrocatalytic activity of hexagonal single crystal CoS1.097 nanoplates with the addition of a small electrocatalytic contribution of GP. Therefore, the DSSC with the CoS1.097/GP CE shows the highest photoelectric conversion efficiency (6.99%) among these DSSCs. Furthermore, the CoS1.097/GP CE still shows excellent electrochemical and mechanical stability in the iodine-based electrolyte after enduring the S-type mechanical perturbation. This work indicates the flexible CoS1.097/GP electrode is a promising candidate to replace Pt/FTO CE as a Pt-free, FTO-free, low cost, exceptionally stable, and high-efficient CE of DSSC.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51602175 and 51602176), the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (Grant No. 2016CFB151), and the Foundation of Key Laboratory of new building energy and building efficiency, Guangxi Province, China (Grant No. 18-J-22-2).

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  1. College of Materials and Chemical Engineering, College of Science, Hubei Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center for New Energy Microgrid, Collaborative Innovation Center for Energy Equipment of Three Gorges Region, Key Laboratory of Inorganic Nonmetallic Crystalline and Energy Conversion Materials, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, 443002, China

    Yaqiang Zhao, Jiali Wang, Li Zheng, Panpan Sun, Niu Huang, Xiangping Huang & Xiaohua Sun

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  1. Yaqiang Zhao
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  2. Jiali Wang
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  3. Li Zheng
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  5. Niu Huang
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  6. Xiangping Huang
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  7. Xiaohua Sun
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Correspondence to Xiangping Huang or Xiaohua Sun.

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Zhao, Y., Wang, J., Zheng, L. et al. One-step in situ growing CoS1.097 nanoplates on flexible graphite paper as efficient and stable FTO-free counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. J Nanopart Res 21, 123 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-019-4553-y

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