Role of gold on catalytic platinum layer of dye-sensitized solar cell

In this contribution, platinum-gold film on fluorine-doped tin oxide coated glass substrate has been introduced as a counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cell. The bimetallic thin film is fabricated by electron beam evaporation technique. The photoelectrochemical performance depends on gold thickness and heat treatment. The annealed bimetallic electrode with 3 nm ultrathin film of gold shows the greatest photocurrent density, consequently light to electricity conversion efficiency. The boost of the efficacy of the photovoltaic cell based platinum-gold cathode is demonstrated in terms of a decrease of interfacial and charge transfer resistance, and an increase of light reflection.