Podlike N‐Doped Carbon Nanotubes Encapsulating FeNi Alloy Nanoparticles: High‐Performance Counter Electrode Materials for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells |
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| Authors: | Xiaojia Zheng Jiao Deng Nan Wang Prof Dehui Deng Prof Wen‐Hua Zhang Prof Xinhe Bao Prof Can Li |
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| Institution: | State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, Dalian 116023 (China) |
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| Abstract: | Podlike nitrogen‐doped carbon nanotubes encapsulating FeNi alloy nanoparticles (Pod(N)‐FeNi) were prepared by the direct pyrolysis of organometallic precursors. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and Tafel polarization measurements revealed their excellent electrocatalytic activities in the I?/I3? redox reaction of dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). This is suggested to arise from the modification of the surface electronic properties of the carbon by the encapsulated metal alloy nanoparticles (NPs). Sequential scanning with EIS and CV further showed the high electrochemical stability of the Pod(N)‐FeNi composite. DSSCs with Pod(N)‐FeNi as the counter electrode (CE) presented a power conversion efficiency of 8.82 %, which is superior to that of the control device with sputtered Pt as the CE. The Pod(N)‐FeNi composite thus shows promise as an environmentally friendly, low‐cost, and highly efficient CE material for DSSCs. |
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| Keywords: | carbon nanotubes electrocatalysis FeNi alloys non‐precious metals solar cells |
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