In situ synthesis of ZnFe2O4 rough nanospheres on carbon nanofibers as an efficient Titanium mesh substrate counter electrode for triiodide reduction in dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract There is no doubt that counter electrode (CE) plays a vital role in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Herein, Zinc Ferrite/carbon nanofibers (ZnFe2O4/CNFs) composite is successfully fabricated by electrospinning and hydrothermal method and coated on titanium (Ti) mesh as an efficient CE material, which is further applied to DSSCs. The Ti mesh has been done as conductive substrate to make the DSSCs have smaller transmission resistance, great stability and sustainable utilization. Via repeated measurements, the ZnFe2O4/CNFs CE which is prepared on Ti mesh exhibits good power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.05%, which is higher than commercial Platinum (Pt) fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) CE (7.21%) and CNFs Ti mesh CE (7.80%) under the same conditions. Most interestingly, the CNFs CE that prepared on Ti mesh has higher PCE than Pt CE, this is mainly due to the use of Ti mesh which is more conducive to the interface transport of iodine ion and electron transfer rate. All of these results indicate that ZnFe2O4/CNFs composite Ti mesh CE has high electrochemical performance and can be favorable for low-cost efficient DSSCs application.