High Efficient Co_3S_4 Supported by Carbon Nanofibers Composite Counter Electrode Catalyst for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

摘要

Cobaltosic sulfide (Co_3S_4) has been introduced into dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) as a counter electrode (CE) in place of Pt for the first time. The DSCs with the pure Co_3S_4 CE obtain a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.2%, only reaching 79% of the comparable DSC using Pt as the CE (5.31%). To improve the catalytic activity of pure Co_3S_4, electrospun carbon nanofibers (ECN) were fabricated by the electrospun method and the composite of ECN supported cobaltosic sulfide (Co_3S_4/ECN) was synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis method. And the DSCs based on Co_3S_4/ECN CE achieve a high PCE of 6.44%, which increases by 21% compared to the Pt CE, indicating that the Co_3S_4/ECN composites were a good choice to increase the efficiency of DSCs.