Synthesis of honeycomb-like mesoporous pyrite FeS2 microspheres as efficient counter electrode in quantum dots sensitized solar cells

Honeycomb-like mesoporous pyrite FeS2 microspheres, with diameters of 500-800 nm and pore sizes of 25-30 nm, are synthesized by a simple solvothermal approach. The mesoporous FeS2 microspheres are demonstrated to be an outstanding counter electrode (CE) material in quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) for electrocatalyzing polysulfide electrolyte regeneration. The cell using mesoporous FeS2 microspheres as CE shows 86.6% enhancement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) than the cell using traditional noble Pt CE. Furthermore, it also shows 11.4% enhancement in PCE than the cell using solid FeS2 microspheres as CE, due to the mesoporous structure facilitating better contact with polysulfide electrolyte and fast diffusion of redox couple species in electrolyte.