Optimization of the Performance of Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells Based on Pt‐Like TiC Counter Electrodes

Abstract Titanium carbide (TiC) has been used as a counter electrode (CE) catalyst in place of Pt for triiodide reduction in dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Its catalytic activity can be comparable to that of Pt. The effect of the thickness of the TiC layer on the performance of the DSCs was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and Tafel polarization measurements. We found that as the film thickness increased, the fill factor and short‐circuit current density increased, which led to improved power‐conversion efficiency. When the TiC film was thicker than 20 μm, however, no significant continuous improvement in the catalytic activity was observed. A high power‐conversion efficiency of 6.46 % was obtained for the DSC by using a TiC CE at the optimized film thickness, a value similar to that obtained with a Pt CE.