Cost-effective platinum alloy counter electrodes for liquid-junction dye-sensitized solar cells

•PtxM100−x (M = Ni, Co, Fe) alloy CEs are synthesized by a facile method.•These alloys CEs with ultra low Pt doages significantly reduce the cost.•The Pt0.28M99.72 alloy CE shows super-catalytic behavior toward −I3I3− reduction.•The DSSC with Pt0.28Ni99.72 CE yields an efficiency of 6.42%.

One of the challenges in developing advanced dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is the pursuit of cost-effective and robust counter electrodes (CEs). We present here the successful synthesis of binary PtxM100−x (M = Ni, Co, Fe) alloy nanostructures on Ti foil by a facile and environmental-friendly strategy for utilization as CEs in liquid-junction DSSCs. Due to the reasonable charge-transfer ability and excellent electrocatalytic activity, the resultant DSSC yields a promising power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.42% with binary Pt0.28Ni99.72 CE in comparison with 6.18% for pristine Pt CE based device. The easy synthesis, cost-effectiveness, and good electrocatalytic property may help the Pt0.28Ni99.72 nanostructure stand out as an alternative CE electrocatalyst in a DSSC.

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