Platinum-free binary Fe–Co nanofiber alloy counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract Exploration of cost-effective counter electrodes (CEs) has been a long-term objective for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In the current work, binary Fe–Co nanofiber alloys are pioneerly synthesized by a low-temperature hydrothermal reduction approach and employed as CE materials for DSSCs. Owing to the rapid charge-transfer, electrical conduction, and electrocatalysis, the binary Fe–Co nanofiber alloy CE based DSSCs have reasonable power conversion efficiencies. An optimal efficiency of 5.06% is recorded from DSSC using FeCo 2 nanofiber alloy CE. The relatively high conversion efficiency, low cost in combination with simple preparation, and scalable components demonstrates the potential use of Fe–Co alloy CEs in robust DSSCs.