Iron pyrite thin film counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells: High efficiency for iodine and cobalt redox electrolyte cells

Sudhanshu Shukla; Nguyen Huu Loc; Pablo P. Boix; Teck Ming Koh; Rajiv Ramanujam Prabhakar; Hemant K. Mulmudi; Jun Zhang; Shi Chen; Chin Fan Ng; Cheng Hon Alfred Huan; Nripan Mathews; Thirumany Sritharan; Qihua Xiong

doi:10.1021/nn5040982

Iron pyrite thin film counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells: High efficiency for iodine and cobalt redox electrolyte cells

Sudhanshu Shukla, Nguyen Huu Loc, Pablo P. Boix, Teck Ming Koh, Rajiv Ramanujam Prabhakar, Hemant K. Mulmudi, Jun Zhang, Shi Chen, Chin Fan Ng, Cheng Hon Alfred Huan, Nripan Mathews, Thirumany Sritharan, Qihua Xiong^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Nanyang Technological University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

139 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Iron pyrite has been the material of interest in the solar community due to its optical properties and abundance. However, the progress is marred due to the lack of control on the surface and intrinsic chemistry of pyrite. In this report, we show iron pyrite as an efficient counter electrode (CE) material alternative to the conventional Pt and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) CEs in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Pyrite film CEs prepared by spray pyrolysis are utilized in I₃^-/I^- and Co(III)/Co(II) electrolyte-mediated DSSCs. From cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy studies, the catalytic activity is found to be comparable with that of Pt and PEDOT in I₃^-/I^- and Co(III)/Co(II) electrolyte, respectively. With the I₃^-/I^- electrolyte, photoconversion efficiency is found to be 8.0% for the pyrite CE and 7.5% for Pt, whereas with Co(III)/Co(II) redox DSSCs, efficiency is found to be the same for both pyrite and PEDOT (6.3%). The excellent performance of the pyrite CE in both the systems makes it a distinctive choice among the various CE materials studied.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	10597-10605
Number of pages	9
Journal	ACS Nano
Volume	8
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/nn5040982
Publication status	Published - Oct 28 2014
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 American Chemical Society.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

General Materials Science
General Engineering
General Physics and Astronomy

Keywords

counter electrode
dye-sensitized solar cells
iron pyrite
spray pyrolysis

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10.1021/nn5040982

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Shukla, S., Loc, N. H., Boix, P. P., Koh, T. M., Prabhakar, R. R., Mulmudi, H. K., Zhang, J., Chen, S., Ng, C. F., Huan, C. H. A., Mathews, N., Sritharan, T., & Xiong, Q. (2014). Iron pyrite thin film counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells: High efficiency for iodine and cobalt redox electrolyte cells. ACS Nano, 8(10), 10597-10605. https://doi.org/10.1021/nn5040982

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abstract = "Iron pyrite has been the material of interest in the solar community due to its optical properties and abundance. However, the progress is marred due to the lack of control on the surface and intrinsic chemistry of pyrite. In this report, we show iron pyrite as an efficient counter electrode (CE) material alternative to the conventional Pt and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) CEs in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Pyrite film CEs prepared by spray pyrolysis are utilized in I3-/I- and Co(III)/Co(II) electrolyte-mediated DSSCs. From cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy studies, the catalytic activity is found to be comparable with that of Pt and PEDOT in I3-/I- and Co(III)/Co(II) electrolyte, respectively. With the I3-/I- electrolyte, photoconversion efficiency is found to be 8.0% for the pyrite CE and 7.5% for Pt, whereas with Co(III)/Co(II) redox DSSCs, efficiency is found to be the same for both pyrite and PEDOT (6.3%). The excellent performance of the pyrite CE in both the systems makes it a distinctive choice among the various CE materials studied.",

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author = "Sudhanshu Shukla and Loc, {Nguyen Huu} and Boix, {Pablo P.} and Koh, {Teck Ming} and Prabhakar, {Rajiv Ramanujam} and Mulmudi, {Hemant K.} and Jun Zhang and Shi Chen and Ng, {Chin Fan} and Huan, {Cheng Hon Alfred} and Nripan Mathews and Thirumany Sritharan and Qihua Xiong",

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T1 - Iron pyrite thin film counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

T2 - High efficiency for iodine and cobalt redox electrolyte cells

AU - Shukla, Sudhanshu

AU - Loc, Nguyen Huu

AU - Boix, Pablo P.

AU - Koh, Teck Ming

AU - Prabhakar, Rajiv Ramanujam

AU - Mulmudi, Hemant K.

AU - Zhang, Jun

AU - Chen, Shi

AU - Ng, Chin Fan

AU - Huan, Cheng Hon Alfred

AU - Mathews, Nripan

AU - Sritharan, Thirumany

AU - Xiong, Qihua

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AB - Iron pyrite has been the material of interest in the solar community due to its optical properties and abundance. However, the progress is marred due to the lack of control on the surface and intrinsic chemistry of pyrite. In this report, we show iron pyrite as an efficient counter electrode (CE) material alternative to the conventional Pt and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) CEs in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Pyrite film CEs prepared by spray pyrolysis are utilized in I3-/I- and Co(III)/Co(II) electrolyte-mediated DSSCs. From cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy studies, the catalytic activity is found to be comparable with that of Pt and PEDOT in I3-/I- and Co(III)/Co(II) electrolyte, respectively. With the I3-/I- electrolyte, photoconversion efficiency is found to be 8.0% for the pyrite CE and 7.5% for Pt, whereas with Co(III)/Co(II) redox DSSCs, efficiency is found to be the same for both pyrite and PEDOT (6.3%). The excellent performance of the pyrite CE in both the systems makes it a distinctive choice among the various CE materials studied.

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KW - dye-sensitized solar cells

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Iron pyrite thin film counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells: High efficiency for iodine and cobalt redox electrolyte cells

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Keywords

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