Blending CoS and Pt for amelioration of electrodeposited transparent counterelectrodes and the efficiency of back-illuminated dye solar cells

Highly efficient and transparent multicomponent catalysts for Dye Solar Cells (DSCs) were obtained by electrodeposition of platinum and cobalt-sulfide (Pt:CoS) on conducting glass substrates from mixture solution of both precursors. At equal charge transfer resistances (RCT), the superior transparency electrodeposited (ED) Pt:CoS compared to ED Pt-only and ED CoS-only was attributed to the synergic of a very thin CoS layer and a fine dispersion of Pt nanoparticles. The highly catalytic of Pt:CoS with less electrodeposited material consumption, carried out at room temperature, can a fast and energy saving fabrication process, also compatible with flexible plastic substrates. In , DSCs with the ED Pt:CoS counterelectrodes showed the highest power conversion efficiency in back , which is the configuration used for flexible metallic and bifacial DSCs during operation, on average almost 14% and 7% in device efficiency with respect to ED CoS-only and ED Pt-only cells. These results are important for all applications where transparency represents a key factor (e.g. , metal based devices) and may also point at blending different precursor solutions as a more general for electrodeposition of layers with added functionality.