Mesoporous Ni0.85Se Nanospheres Grown in Situ on Graphene with High Performance in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Xiao Zhang; Yuxiao Yang; Shengqi Guo; Fangzhong Hu; Lu Liu

doi:10.1021/acsami.5b00464

Mesoporous Ni0.85Se Nanospheres Grown in Situ on Graphene with High Performance in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2015 Apr 29;7(16):8457-64. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5b00464. Epub 2015 Apr 15.

Authors

Xiao Zhang¹, Yuxiao Yang¹, Shengqi Guo¹, Fangzhong Hu¹, Lu Liu¹

Affiliation

¹ †Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering and ‡State Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, P. R. China.

PMID: 25850447
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b00464

Abstract

Mesoporous Ni0.85Se nanospheres grown on graphene were synthesized via the hydrothermal approach. Because of the exceptional electron-transfer pathway of graphene and the excellent catalytic ability of the mesoporous Ni0.85Se nanospheres, the nanocomposites exhibited excellent electrocatalytic property as the counter electrode (CE) of dye-sensitized solar cells. More catalytic active sites, better charge-transfer ability and faster reaction velocity of Ni0.85Se@RGO (RGO = reduced graphene oxide) CE led to faster and more complete I3(-) reduction than Pt, Ni0.85Se, and RGO CEs. Furthermore, the power conversion efficiency of Ni0.85Se@RGO CE reached 7.82%, which is higher than that of Pt CE (7.54%). Electrochemical impedance spectra, cyclic voltammetry, and Tafel polarization were obtained to demonstrate positive synergetic effect between Ni0.85Se and RGO, as well as the higher catalytic activity and the better charge-transfer ability of Ni0.85Se@RGO compared with Pt CE.

Keywords: DSSCs; Ni0.85Se; graphene; mesoporous nanospheres.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.