Hierarchical NiO/CmK-3 photocathode for a P-type dye-sensitized solar cell with improved photoelectrochemical performance and fast hole transfer

The sluggish photoelectrochemical performance of p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (p-DSSCs) has hindered its commercial use. In this work, we introduce a novel hierarchical nanocomposite of NiO nanoparticles anchored on highly ordered mesoporous carbons CMK-3 (NiO/CMK-3). Using CMK-3 as a backbone effectively prevented the self-aggregation of NiO nanoparticles and subsequently increased the total specific surface area of the composite for more dye adsorption. The interconnected conductive networks of CMK-3 also served as a split-flow high-speed channel, which was beneficial for hole spin-flow to accelerate hole transfer. The hierarchical NiO/CMK-3 photocathode improved the photovoltaic conversion efficiency to 1.48% in a cell with a Cobalt(II)/(III) electrolyte and a PMI-6T-TPA dye.