An In2.77S4@conductive carbon composite with superior electrocatalytic activity for dye-sensitized solar cells

An In2.77S4@conductive carbon (In2.77S4@Cc) composite was successfully synthesized via a simple two-step fabrication approach. When it was used as a counter electrode (CE) material for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the In2.77S4@Cc composite electrode shows superior electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of I3− to I− in a DSSC. Under one sun (100 mW/cm2) illumination, the dye-sensitized solar cell with the In2.77S4@Cc CE exhibits high photovoltaic conversion efficiency (η = 8.71%), comparable to commercial Pt-based DSSC (η = 8.75%). The results indicate that the prepared In2.77S4@Cc composite CE has the potential for low-cost and highly efficient counter electrodes.