NiCo2O4/carbon nanofibers composite as an efficient counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

Herein, a composite of carbon fibers coated with bimetallic oxide NiCo 2 O 4 are successfully synthesized by combination of electrospun and hydrothermal methods and applied as counter electrode (CE) catalytically for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). SEM images show the homogeneous distribution of NiCo 2 O 4 nanosheets on the surface of CNFs, which provides enough active centers for electron collection and transmission and makes larger surface area. More importantly, the NiCo 2 O 4 /CNFs CE exhibits high efficiency and electrochemical stability, of which the short circuit current density ( J sc ) reachs 17.11 mA cm −2 . Due to the employment of NiCo 2 O 4 /CNFs composite as CE, the photoelectric conversion efficiency has achieved 7.80%, obviously higher than those of CNFs (5.75%) and Pt (7.35%).The cost-effective NiCo 2 O 4 /CNFs composite may be used to replace the conventional Pt CEs alternatively.