Reusing of Industrial Ore Fertilizers as Cathode Electrocatalyst for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

The reuse of industrial ore fertilizers (IOF) is of great significance for environmental pollution and for broadening the application field of IOF, which has the advantages of abundant raw materials and low price. In this study, we used IOF mainly containing Al, O, C, Na, V, F elements to prepare the cathode electrocatalyst by calcination (100, 400, 600 and 800℃ in N2) and post-washing method as counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The electrochemical test showed that the photovoltaic parameters (VOC = 0.75 V, JSC= 14.74 mA/cm-2, FF= 0.53 and PCE=6.0 %) of DSCs based on IOF calcinating at 600 ℃ (IOF-600) were close to those (VOC=0.83 V, JSC = 13.30 mA/cm-2, FF = 0. 57 and PCE=6.36 %) of DSCs based on noble metal Pt. The result of SEM indicate that IOF-600 has a porous structure and is conducive to increase active sites, contact area with reactive species, and the diffusion of electrolyte solution. The electrochemical mechanism studies showed that V-IOF-600 showed good catalytic activity for iodine reduction reaction due to small charge transport resistance. IOF had the advantages of abundant materials and low cost, its reusing as cathode catalyst for DSCs is in line with the concept of green and sustainable development. This study provides ideas and methods for the reusing of other industrial fertilizers.