Facile synthesis of bilayer carbon/Ni3S2 nanowalls for a counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract A bilayer carbon coated Ni 3 S 2 composite nanowall (carbon/Ni 3 S 2 ) film was first used as a counter electrode for a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The carbon/Ni 3 S 2 film was synthesized by a chemical bath deposition and an arc evaporation process. A DSSC with Ni 3 S 2 composite counter electrode exhibited an efficiency of 8.40 %, which slightly exceeded that of a Pt (8.38 %). Moreover, bilayer carbon/Ni 3 S 2 nanowall further increased photovoltaic conversion efficiency to 9.64 %. Such dramatic improvement of solar efficiency using a Pt-free composite made of carbon/Ni 3 S 2 nanowall was due to the large surface area of the nano structure and their good co-electrocatalytic activity.