Atmospheric plasma reaction synthesised PtxFe1-x/graphene and TiO2 nanoparticles/graphene for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

We report a facile atmospheric plasma reaction synthesis of PtxFe1-x alloys with the different Pt/Fe stoichiometric ratio in PtxFe1-x alloys on graphene (G) as efficient counter electrode (CE) materials and atmospheric plasma reaction synthesised TiO2 nanoparticles/G as photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Well-distributed PtxFe1-x nanoparticles or TiO2 nanoparticles on the G surface were obtained. Remarkably, DSSCs prepared by the Pt0.7Fe0.3/G CE have much higher catalytic activity and stable durability than Pt1Fe0/G CE. The as-synthesized Pt0.7Fe0.3/G CE exhibits the largest value of |J(red)| = 1.479 mA and the lowest value of R-ct = 2.86 omega. With the Pt0.7Fe0.3/G as CE and TiO2/G as the photoanode, the DSSC can deliver an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.13%, which is significantly higher than the 9.72% of the expensive Pt1Fe0/G counterpart. The obtained results indicate that the PtxFe1-x/G nanohybrids fabricated using atmospheric plasma reaction exhibited potential as a reference for next generation CE materials in highly efficient DSSCs. We believe that this work provides an effective strategy for optimizing Pt utilization for the low-cost and efficient application of DSSCs.

Automated summary

PtxFe1-x alloys/G nanohybrids synthesized through atmospheric plasma reaction show higher catalytic activity and stability in DSSCs, leading to improved power conversion efficiency in solar cells.