Depositing Pt nanoparticles by pulse electrodeposition for DSSCs counter electrode with high electrocatalytic activity

摘要

A Pt counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was prepared by a simple and low-cost pulse electrodeposition method. The catalytic activity and the Pt utilization efficiency of Pt films were investigated. In this study, four Pt counter electrodes were prepared by pulse electrodeposition at high current density on FTO substrates. The catalytic activity of the counter electrode and DSSC performance were optimized by varying the pulse electrodepositing cycles. The relationships between Pt nanostructure, electrochemical properties, interfacial charge transfer resistance and photovoltaic performance are investigated in detail. The Pt film prepared by 25 pulse electrodepositing cycles shows well-distributed Pt nanoparticles on the FTO substrate, which provides not only a larger electrochemical active surface area but also lower charge transfer resistance than others. The photovoltaic performance proves that the Pt counter electrode prepared by 25 pulse electrodepositing cycles at 30 mA/cm(2) current density achieves the highest energy conversion efficiency of 8.45% among these samples.