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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Chem.
Sec. Electrochemistry
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fchem.2024.1511600
This article is part of the Research Topic Photoelectrochemistry in Solar Energy Utilization View all articles

Upconverter Loaded MoS2 Counter Electrode for Broadband Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Applications

Provisionally accepted
Kawya J Kawya J 1,2Durairaj M Durairaj M 1,2Anandan S Anandan S 3Sabari Girisun T C Sabari Girisun T C 1*
  • 1 Department of Physics, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India
  • 2 Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India
  • 3 National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    An interesting approach of including an upconverter in the MoS2 counter electrode can yield broadband light harvesting Pt-free DSSC assembly. Here different upconverter (UC) nanoparticles (Yb, Er incorporated NaYF4, YF3, CeO2 & Y2O3) were synthesized and loaded in MoS2 thin film by hydrothermal method. The inclusion of UCs in MoS2 films exposed without any secondary formation of upconverters and the uniform deposition of the films are confirmed through XRD and FESEM analysis respectively. The absorption spectrum (UV-Vis-NIR) confirms the increase in absorption intensity in visible and NIR regions due to the incorporation of UCs. Under 980 nm excitation, the UCs-loaded MoS2 films show emission in blue (450 nm-490 nm), green (520 nm-540 nm) and red (600 nm-700 nm) regions due to the ff inner transition occurring in the Er ions. The oxide and fluoride UCs-based DSSCs were fabricated with an FTO/TiO2/N719/Triiodide electrolyte/UC@MoS2/FTO assembly. Oxide UCs show greater electrocatalytic activity, which might be owed to the films exposed with more catalytic active sites favourable for ion transportation in the I -/I - 3 electrolyte. Among them, higher photoconversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.1% was witnessed for (Y2O3: Er, Yb) @MoS2 counter electrode-based DSSC which is due to the good conductivity (RS) of the film, the longer electron lifetime and photon harvesting enhancement by upconversion process. It is notably convinced that the UC-loaded MoS2 films can be used as an effective counter electrode for the possible realization of upconverter DSSC and used for broadband light absorption.

    Keywords: MoS2 counter electrode, Upconverter Nanoparticles, DSSC, Broadband absorption, upconversion (UC) materials

    Received: 17 Oct 2024; Accepted: 23 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 J, M, S and T C. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sabari Girisun T C, Department of Physics, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India

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