Nitrogen-doped porous carbon prepared by a facile soft-templating process as low-cost counter electrode for High-performance dye-sensitized solar cells

Nitrogen-doping porous carbon (NPC) with high surface area is prepared by a simple soft-templating method and explored as a low-cost counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells. Nitrogen adsorption analysis shows that the as-prepared NPC has a high surface area and mesoporous structure. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy test shows a low charge-transfer resistance of 0.77 Ω cm2 for NPC electrode in iodide/triiodide redox electrolyte. Such excellent electrocatalytic activity can be attributed not only to good surface properties including high surface area and mesoporous structure but also to nitrogen doping in NPC framework. Among various nitrogen species in the NPC framework, pyridinic and quaternary nitrogen are considered to contribute significantly to the electrocatalytic activity. A conversion efficiency of 7.09% is achieved for dye-sensitized solar cells with NPC counter electrode at one sun illumination, which is comparable to that of the cell with Pt counter electrode. These results reveal that the NPC electrode is a promising counter electrode candidate for dye-sensitized solar cells.