Platinum is the most commonly used dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) counter electrode (CE) due to its superior electrocatalytic activity and high transparency. However, the scarcity and high-cost of Pt restrict its practical application for the large-scale production of DSSCs. Herein, a facile approach for fabricating highly dispersed Co₉S₈ nanoparticles with small diameters in the range of 5–10 nm on the surface of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) via an electrospinning followed by calcination and hydrothermal reaction was developed. The composite material could be used as an efficient and low-cost Pt-free CE for DSSCs. The DSSC assembled with the prepared Co₉S₈/CNFs composite as a CE exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.37%, which is comparable to that of the DSSC with conventional thermally deposited Pt as the CE (8.50%). Therefore, the Co₉S₈/CNFs composite can be used as an efficient and low-cost promising alternative CE in DSSCs.

铂由于其优异的电催化活性和高透明度而成为最常用的染料敏化太阳能电池（DSSC）对电极（CE）。但是，Pt的稀缺性和高成本限制了其在DSSC大规模生产中的实际应用。本文中，开发了一种通过静电纺丝然后煅烧和水热反应在碳纳米纤维（CNFs）表面上制备直径5至10 nm范围内的小直径Co ₉ S ₈纳米粒子的简便方法。该复合材料可以用作DSSC的高效且低成本的无铂CE。DSSC与准备好的Co ₉ S ₈组装在一起/ CNFs复合材料作为CE表现出优异的电催化活性和8.37％的功率转换效率（PCE），与传统热沉积Pt作为CE的DSSC（8.50％）相当。因此，Co ₉ S ₈ / CNFs复合材料可以用作DSSC中高效，低成本的有希望的替代CE。