Microwave assisted synthesis of polythiophene–molybdenum sulfide counter electrode in dye sensitized solar cell

This work focuses on the microwave assisted synthesis of polythiophene–molybdenum sulfide (PTh/MoS 2 ) composite as a counter electrode (CE) in dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The structural characterizations of the prepared samples were examined through different techniques including FT-IR spectroscopy, FESEM, EDAX, XRD, and XPS. The cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results shows that the composite possesses better electro-catalytic activity with 22% lower charge transfer resistance in comparison with PTh which is in good agreement with Tafel curves results. The DSSC fabricated with PTh/MoS 2 composite as CE exhibited a short circuit density (J SC ) of 6.01 mA cm −2 , fill factor of 0.5 and power conversion efficiency (η) of 1.36% which is 38% higher than the cell fabricated with PTh under full light illumination (100 mW cm −2 AM 1.5G). Hence the high performance PTh/MoS 2 composite can be potentially used as a cost effective and efficient counter electrode for dye sensitized solar cell.