Time Evolution Characterization of Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Jet (APPJ)-Synthesized Pt-SnOx Catalysts

• Main Authors: Chia-Chun Lee, Tzu-Ming Huang, I-Chun Cheng, Cheng-Che Hsu, Jian-Zhang Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-09-01
• Series: Metals
• Subjects: atmospheric pressure plasma jet; platinum; tin oxide; dye-sensitized solar cells; chloroplatinic acid; tin chloride
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/8/9/690
• ISSN: 2075-4701

We characterize the time evolution (≤120 s) of atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ)-synthesized Pt-SnOx catalysts. A mixture precursor solution consisting of chloroplatinic acid and tin(II) chloride is spin-coated on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates, following which APPJ is used for converting the spin-coated precursors. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicates the conversion of a large portion of metallic Pt and a small portion of metallic Sn (most Sn is in oxidation states) from the precursors with 120 s APPJ processing. The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) efficiency with APPJ-synthesized Pt-SnOx CEs is improved greatly with only 5 s of APPJ processing. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel experiments confirm the catalytic activities of Pt-SnOx catalysts. The DSSC performance can be improved with a short APPJ processing time, suggesting that a DC-pulse nitrogen APPJ can be an efficient tool for rapidly synthesizing catalytic Pt-SnOx counter electrodes (CEs) for DSSCs.