Graphene-embedded carbon nanofibers decorated with Pt nanoneedles for high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells
27-12-2017 19:31
Graphene-embedded carbon nanofibers (GCNFs) were developed as a new counter electrode nanomaterial for higher efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). GCNFs were produced by electrospinning polyacrylonitrile (PAN) with graphene nanoplatelets followed by stabilization and carbonization. GCNFs decorated with surface-attached platinum nanoneedles (GCNFs-PtNNs) were subsequently prepared by redox reaction and then deposited onto fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass to make counter electrode for DSCs. Graphene inside carbon nanofibers and Pt nanoparticles on the surface demonstrated synergistic effects on improving DSC performance. Compared to DSCs with conventional planar Pt counter electrode, the DSCs with GCNFs-PtNNs significantly improved the energy conversion efficiency from 8.56% to 9.95%. This is the highest conversion efficiency so far with carbon nanofiber based counter electrode.