Nitrogen-doped ordered cubic mesoporous carbons as metal-free counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

N-doped ordered cubic mesoporous carbons (N-OCMCs) are synthesized by a one-pot aqueous route from resorcinol and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) and applied as counter electrode (CE) materials for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The prepared N-OCMCs with ordered cubic mesoporous structure and large surface area offer appropriate electrolyte ions diffusion channels and abundant catalytically active sites for triiodide reduction. Moreover, the temperature dependence of nitrogen content and the nitrogen-doped types are demonstrated to play decisive roles in regulating the electrocatalytic activity of N-OCMC CEs and affecting the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs. The DSSCs based on the N-OCMC CEs achieve an optimum power conversion efficiency of 5.60%, as high as 86.7% of the cell based on the traditional Pt CE, due to that high N-doping amount, and particularly favorable pyridinic-N and graphtitic-N types promote the charge transport and transfer process of the carbon CE. The good catalytic performance could render N-OCMC as a cost-effective CE candidate to Pt in DSSC. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.