Mesoporous nanoflakes Cu2S counter electrode prepared from three-dimensional ordered macroporous Cu film for quantum dot-sensitized solar cell

Abstract Mesoporous nanoflakes Cu 2 S counter electrode (CE) was prepared from three-dimensional ordered macroporous (3-DOM) Cu film obtained by polystyrene microspheres assisted potentiostatic deposition for quantum dot-sensitized solar cell (QDSSC). The structrue of the Cu 2 S CE can be controlled by the size of polystyrene microspheres. The optimized Cu 2 S CE shows a charge transfer resistance (R CT ) as low as 1.24 Ω cm 2 , while the R CT of the Pt CE is 2250 Ω cm 2 . A CdSe QDSSC based on the mesoporous nanoflakes Cu 2 S CE achieved a power conversion efficiency of 6.01%, which was higher than that based on Pt CE (1.74%) and ordinary Cu 2 S CE (4.85%). This enhancement can be attributed to the increased surface area, the easy electrolyte diffution and the improved electron transport of mesoporous nanoflakes Cu 2 S CE. This work provides a new effective approach for the structure control of Cu 2 S CE for high-efficiency QDSSC.