Optimum engineering of a PtSn alloys/reduced graphene oxide nanohybrid for a highly efficient counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells

• Various PtSn-NPs/RGO nanohybrids were successfully synthesized via DPR.
• A bimetallic Pt0.9Sn0.1 NPs/RGO nanohybrid was found to be superior for the CE of DSC.
• Pt0.9Sn0.1 NPs/RGO CE exhibited the highest efficiency of 8.41% among all DSCs using PtSn alloy.
• An effective strategy was developed to minimize the use of Pt.

Well-dispersed Pt1–xSnx alloy nanoparticles (NPs) were stabilized with RGO after a co-reduction of metal precursor ions and graphene oxide via a dry plasma reduction under an atmospheric pressure and close to room temperature. The highest electrocatalytic performance, which corresponds to the lowest charge transfer resistance of 1.12 Ω, is achieved with the Pt0.9Sn0.1 NPs/RGO nanohybrid. The application of the optimized Pt0.9Sn0.1 NPs/RGO nanohybrid as an alternative CE for DSCs results in an increase of the efficiency by 14.67% over that of a Pt/RGO-based DSC and an increase of 48.96% over the efficiency of a Pt-free device.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide