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Synthesis of nickel sulfides of different phases for counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells by a solvothermal method with different solvents

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Abstract

Two phases of nickel sulfide (α-NiS and β-NiS) nanoarchitectures were successfully and controllably synthesized by a facile solvothermal method with two different solvents of alcohol and water, respectively. The products were characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrophotometer. The sphere-like shape for α-NiS and cross-like shape composed of nanorods for β-NiS are uniform and well distributed as well as their size. Both α-NiS and β-NiS powders were used as counter electrodes (CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). It is found that the DSSC with an α-NiS CE performs much better than the one with a β-NiS CE. The energy conversion efficiency of the former was 5.2%, whereas the latter was 4.2%, about 20% increment.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11174002) and by ‘211 Project’ of Anhui University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Materials Science, Anhui University, Hefei, 230601, China

    Xiao Yang, Lei Zhou, Ali Feng, Huaibao Tang, Haijun Zhang, Zongling Ding, Yongqing Ma, Mingzai Wu & Shaowei Jin

  2. Anhui Key Laboratory of Information Materials and Devices, Hefei, 230601, China

    Guang Li

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  1. Xiao Yang
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  2. Lei Zhou
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Correspondence to Guang Li.

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Yang, X., Zhou, L., Feng, A. et al. Synthesis of nickel sulfides of different phases for counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells by a solvothermal method with different solvents. Journal of Materials Research 29, 935–941 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2014.74

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