Synthesis of W, Nb and Ta doped α-Mo 2 C and Their Application as Counter Electrode in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

作     者：J. Theerthagiri R.A. Senthil M.H. Buraidah J. Madhavan A.K. Arof 

作者机构：Solar Energy Lab Department of Chemistry Thiruvalluvar University Vellore-632 115 India Centre for Ionics University Malaya Department of Physics University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur 50603 Malaysia 

出 版 物：《Materials Today: Proceedings》 

年 卷 期：2016年第3卷

页      面：S65-S72页

学科分类：08[工学] 0805[工学-材料科学与工程（可授工学、理学学位）] 080502[工学-材料学] 

主　　题：α-MoO 3 α-Mo 2 C Counter electrode Dye-sensitized solar cells Electrocatalytic activity 

摘      要：The nanowire-shaped α-MoO 3 and various metal-doped (W, Nb and Ta) α-MoO 3 was synthesized by hydrothermal route. The synthesized metal oxides were converted into corresponding carbides by carburization method using urea as carbon source. The synthesized carbides were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and the electrocatalytic activity for triiodide reduction was studied by cyclic voltammetry. The order of electrocatalytic activity of the synthesized materials are, W-α-Mo 2 C α-Mo 2 C Ta-α-Mo 2 C Nb-α-Mo 2 C. The dye-sensitized solar cell fabricated with W-α-Mo 2 C counter electrode found to show the better power conversion efficiency (2.53± 0.02%) than pure α-Mo 2 C, Nb and Ta-doped α-Mo 2 C. This study indicates that the W-doped α-Mo 2 C is a potential electrocatalyst for the applications in cost-effective dye-sensitized solar cells.