CePd-Nanoparticles-Incorporated Carbon Nanofibers as Efficient Counter Electrode for DSSCs

Abstract

In this study, the cerium-palladium (CePd) incorporated carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were manufactured by low-cost and versatile electrospinning technique and successfully applied as a counter electrode to fabricate the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The utilized physiochemical techniques, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) confirmed the formation of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) incorporated by Ce and Pd nanoparticles. CePd incorporated CNFs were preliminary presented good electrocatalytic activity towards the iodide redox couple, as investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The DSSC fabricated using CePd incorporated CNFs based counter electrode (CE) attained an applicable power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 4.52% along with open circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.739 V, a short-circuit current density (JSC) of 11.42 mA/cm2 and fill factor (FF) of 0.54. According to primary results, the CePd incorporated CNFs based CE is a promising, and cost-effective alternative CE for photoelectrochemical devices.