A Facile Synthesis of Ternary Nickel Iron Sulfide Nanospheres as Counter Electrode in Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

The incorporation of a foreign metal into a material may adjust the surface electronic structure and promote charge transfer, which then ultimately improves electrical conductivity and electrocatalytic performance because of the possible charge delocalization between the metal cations. As a result, for the first time, ternary nickel iron sulfide nanospheres have been successfully fabricated through a two-step solvothermal approach with the help of glucose (Ni Fe S /C). Subsequently, the electrochemical performance and electrocatalytic activity of Ni Fe S /C were evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Tafel polarization and cyclic voltammetry, indicating high electrical conductivity and great electrocatalytic activity. Ni Fe S /C was employed as a counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells, and exhibited higher power conversion efficiency (6.79 %) than the device with Pt CE (6.31 %) under full sunlight illumination (100 mW cm , AM 1.5G).

Recent advances in cobalt-, nickel-, and iron-based chalcogen compounds as counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells

“…In view of their higher electroconductivity, bimetal selenides would be more advantageous than the corresponding binary selenides, as they profit from the copresence of nickel and cobalt [118]. It is generally known that the morphology and stoichiometric ratio play decisive roles in determining the elec- [136] trocatalytic activity of CE materials [24]. Wang and coworkers [119] engineered ternary nickel cobalt selenide (NiχCoγSe) nanoparticles with different Ni/Co molar ratios by directly depositing them on FTO.…”

“…Although the cell using Fe0.7Ni0.3/RGO CE yielded the best efficiency, it was only 4.11%. Lately, our group [136] fabricated spherical nickel iron sulfide with the aim of glucose (Ni0.5Fe0.5S2/C) by using a novel hydrothermal approach. Profiting from the synergetic effect between nickel and iron, faster electron transfer and higher electrocatalytic activity were realized for the as-synthesized Ni0.5Fe0.5S2/C, compared to those of platinum.…”

In‐Situ Growth Mirror‐Like Cobalt Sulfide Nanosheets on ITO for High Efficiency Counter Electrode of Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells**

“…Varieties of materials such as carbon material [15–17] and conducting polymer [18,19] have been used as CEs and achieve high electrocatalytic activity. Up to now, nitrides, [20,21] oxides [22,23] and sulfides of transition metals [24–27] have also been applied in CEs due to their diversified morphology and potential high performance. The transition metal sulfide is one of the best candidates to supersede Pt as CE because of its advantages of high conductivity and excellent electrocatalytic activity.…”

Continuous-Flow Separation and Efficient Concentration of Foodborne Bacteria from Large Volume Using Nickel Nanowire Bridge in Microfluidic Chip

“…Moreover, the forming of magnetic particle chains in separation channel was demonstrated to enhance separation efficiency of target bacteria [19]. In addition, magnetic nickel nanowires (NiNWs) with high aspect ratio and shape anisotropic properties, which could be synthesized using chemical vapor deposition [20,21], electrochemical deposition [22,23], electrospinning [24,25], microwave-assisted process [26,27] and solvothermal methods [28,29], were reported for manipulation and separation of magnetic cells without the use of strong magnetic field. Therefore, the combination of magnetic flow separation and the magnetic NiNWs might be promising to develop efficient methods for continuous-flow separation of target bacteria from large volume of sample.…”