Enhanced electrocatalytic activity of the Au-electrodeposited Pt nanoparticles-coated conducting oxide for the quantum dot-sensitized solar cells
- School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749 (Korea, Republic of)
- Department of Chemistry Education, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757 (Korea, Republic of)
- School of Semiconductor and Chemical Engineering, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756 (Korea, Republic of)
- Department of Nano-Optical Engineering, Korea Polytechnic University, Siheung 429-793 (Korea, Republic of)
Au was electrodeposited potentiostatically at 0.3 V for 5 min on nanoporous Pt nanoparticle-coated F-doped SnO{sub 2} (FTO/Pt) substrates. For comparison, Au-electrodeposited FTO (FTO/Au) and Au-uncoated FTO/Pt were prepared. FTO/Au showed large-sized Au clusters dispersed sparsely over FTO, which resulted in lower electrocatalytic activity than FTO/Pt. In contrast, FTO/Pt exhibited poor stability unlike FTO/Au due to poisoning by the adsorption of sulfur species. The Au-electrodeposited FTO/Pt (FTO/Pt/Au) consisted of small Au clusters deposited over the entire area of Pt due to the effective Au nucleation provided by nanoporous metallic Pt. FTO/Pt/Au exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity and excellent stability because the small Au particles well-dispersed over the nanoporous metallic Pt network provided numerous electrochemical reaction sites, and the Pt surface was not exposed to the electrolyte. When FTO/Pt/Au was used as the counter electrode (CE) of a quantum dot-sensitized solar cell, the significantly enhanced electrocatalytic activity of the FTO/Pt/Au CE facilitated the reduction reaction of S{sub n}{sup 2− }+ 2e{sup −} (CE) → S{sub n−1}{sup 2−} + S{sup 2−} at the CE/electrolyte interface, resulting in a significantly hindered recombination reaction, S{sub n}{sup 2− }+ 2e{sup −} (TiO{sub 2} in the photoanode) → S{sub n-1}{sup 2−} + S{sup 2−}, and significantly improved overall energy conversion efficiency.
- OSTI ID:
- 22310974
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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