Hollow platinum alloy tailored counter electrodes for photovoltaic applications

Without sacrifice of photovoltaic performances, low-platinum alloy counter electrodes (CEs) are promising in bringing down the fabrication cost of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We present here the realization of ZnO nanostructure assisted hollow platinum-nickel (PtNi) alloy microstructure CEs with a simple hydrothermal methods and maximization of electrocatalytic behaviors by tuning Zn precursors. The maximal power conversion efficiency is up to 8.74% for the liquid-junction dye-sensitized solar cells with alloyed PtNi0.41 electrode, yielding a 37.6% cell efficiency enhancement in comparison with pristine solar cell from planar Pt electrode. Moreover, the dissolution-resistant and charge-transfer abilities toward I−/I3− redox electrolyte have also been markedly enhanced due to competitive dissolution reactions and alloying effects.