Prussian Blue-Derived Synthesis of Hollow Porous Iron Pyrite Nanoparticles as Platinum-Free Counter Electrodes for Highly Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Iron pyrite has long been an attractive material for environmental and energy applications, but is hampered by a lack of control over morphology and purity. Hollow porous iron pyrite nanoparticles were synthesized by a direct sulfurization of iron oxide derived from Prussian blue. The high efficiencies of these hollow porous iron pyrite nanoparticles as effective dye-sensitized solar cell counter electrodes were demonstrated, with an efficiency of 7.31 %.