Properties of the catalytic nickel silicides for a dye-sensitized solar cell

We have investigated the properties of nickel silicides as catalysts for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by preparing several nickel silicide layers with a 100 nm-Ni/Si (100) structure using silicidation annealing for 30 minutes at 300 V, - 900 "C. X-ray diffraction (XRD), four-point probe, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and cyclic-voltammetry (CV) analyses were carried out to measure the phase, sheet resistance, microstructure, and catalytic activity, respectively. The photovoltaic properties of DSSCs employing nickel silicides were characterized using a solar simulator and a potentiostat. The XRD, four-point probe, and FE-SEM results showed that island-like Ni2Si, uniform NiSi, and NiSi2 were successfully formed under the given silicidation conditions. CV analysis determined that the catalytic activity of the Ni2Si, NiSi, and NiSi2, which exhibited values of 66.58%, 89.69% and 66.07%, respectively, compared to that of Pt catalyst. In particular, the energy conversion efficiency of the DSSC using NiSi was 3.29%.