Atmospheric plasma reaction synthesised Pt(x)Fe(1−x)/graphene and TiO(2) nanoparticles/graphene for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

We report a facile atmospheric plasma reaction synthesis of Pt(x)Fe(1−x) alloys with the different Pt/Fe stoichiometric ratio in Pt(x)Fe(1−x) alloys on graphene (G) as efficient counter electrode (CE) materials and atmospheric plasma reaction synthesised TiO(2) nanoparticles/G as photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Well-distributed Pt(x)Fe(1−x) nanoparticles or TiO(2) nanoparticles on the G surface were obtained. Remarkably, DSSCs prepared by the Pt(0.7)Fe(0.3)/G CE have much higher catalytic activity and stable durability than Pt(1)Fe(0)/G CE. The as-synthesized Pt(0.7)Fe(0.3)/G CE exhibits the largest value of |J(red)| = 1.479 mA and the lowest value of R(ct) = 2.86 Ω. With the Pt(0.7)Fe(0.3)/G as CE and TiO(2)/G as the photoanode, the DSSC can deliver an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.13%, which is significantly higher than the 9.72% of the expensive Pt(1)Fe(0)/G counterpart. The obtained results indicate that the Pt(x)Fe(1−x)/G nanohybrids fabricated using atmospheric plasma reaction exhibited potential as a reference for next generation CE materials in highly efficient DSSCs. We believe that this work provides an effective strategy for optimizing Pt utilization for the low-cost and efficient application of DSSCs.