Hierarchical NiO/CMK-3 Photocathode for a p-Type Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell with Improved Photoelectrochemical Performance and Fast Hole Transfer

摘要： 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 e?ectively prevented the self-aggregation of NiO nanoparticles and subsequently increased the total speci?c surface area of the composite for more dye adsorption. The interconnected conductive networks of CMK-3 also served as a split-?ow high-speed channel, which was bene?cial for hole spin-?ow to accelerate hole transfer. The hierarchical NiO/CMK-3 photocathode improved the photovoltaic conversion e?ciency to 1.48% in a cell with a Cobalt(II)/(III) electrolyte and a PMI-6T-TPA dye.