Metal Oxide/Carbide/Carbon Nanocomposites: In Situ Synthesis, Characterization, Calculation, and their Application as an Efficient Counter Electrode Catalyst for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

TaO- and TaC-based nanocomposites as novel and low-cost counter electrodes (CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) show outstanding electrocatalytic activity and photovoltaic performance, superior to the Pt electrode. Based on the first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, I3 is chemisorbed onto the TaO surface as opposed to physical adsorption on the TaC surface. The TaO-based composite is more efficient than the TaC-based composite as a CE in DSCs.