Back close

One-step hydrothermal synthesis of marigold flower-like nanostructured MoS2 as a counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

Publication Type : Journal Article

Thematic Areas : Advanced Materials and Green Technologies

Publisher : Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry

Source : Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry

Url : https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85049937322&doi=10.1007%2fs10008-018-4043-7&partnerID=40&md5=7a370b57fd95e42a3a90a42a0adaeb5f

Keywords : Charge transfer, Charge transfer resistance, Conductive films, Counter electrodes, Cyclic voltammetry, Dye-sensitized solar cells, Efficiency, Electrocatalytic activity, Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Electrodes, Fluorine doped tin oxide, Hall effect measurement, Hall mobility, Hydrothermal synthesis, Layered semiconductors, Marigold flowers, Molybdenum compounds, Nanocomposites, Nanostructured materials, Nanostructured thin film, Nanostructures, Oxide films, Photons, Platinum, Platinum compounds, Precursor concentration, scanning electron microscopy, Sodium compounds, Solar cells, Thin films, Tin oxides, X ray powder diffraction

Campus : Coimbatore

School : School of Engineering

Center : Center for Excellence in Advanced Materials and Green Technologies

Department : Chemical, Civil

Year : 2018

Abstract : MoS2 thin films with marigold flower-like nanostructures were grown on conductive fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates through a one-step hydrothermal synthesis for their application as counter electrodes (CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Different MoS2 thin film samples (A–D) were grown on FTO slides using different concentrations of precursors (sodium molybdate and thioacetamide), while keeping the Mo/S molar ratio constant (1:4.6), in all samples. The effect of varying precursor concentrations (3.2–12.6 mM on MoS2 basis) on the structure of the nanostructured thin films and their performance as DSSC-CEs was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a material with an infolded petal-like morphology. With increasing precursor concentration, the petal-like structures tended to form bunched nanostructures (100–300 nm) resembling marigold flowers. X-ray diffraction analysis, X-ray photoelectron, and Raman spectroscopy studies showed that the thin films were composed of hexagonal MoS2 with good crystallinity. Hall effect measurements revealed MoS2 to be a p-type semiconductor with a carrier mobility of 219.80 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature. The electrochemical properties of the thin films were examined using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The marigold flower-like MoS2 thin films showed excellent electrocatalytic activity towards the I¯/I3¯ reaction and low charge transfer resistance (Rct) values of 14.77 Ω cm−1, which was close to that of Pt electrode (12.30 Ω cm−1). The maximum power conversion efficiency obtained with MoS2 CE-based DSSCs was 6.32%, which was comparable to a Pt CE-based DSSC (6.38%) under one sun illumination. Similarly, the maximum incident photon-to-charge carrier efficiency exhibited by MoS2 CE-based DSSCs was 65.84%, which was also comparable to a Pt CE-based DSSC (68.38%). The study demonstrated that the marigold flower-like nanostructured MoS2 films are a promising alternative to the conventional Pt-based CEs in DSSCs. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2018 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Cite this Research Publication : R. Senthilkumar, Ramakrishnan, S., Balu, M., Ramamurthy, P. C., Kumaresan, D., and Kothurkar, N. K., “One-step hydrothermal synthesis of marigold flower-like nanostructured MoS2 as a counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells”, Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry, pp. 1-11, 2018.

Admissions Apply Now