Evaluating the efficacy of binary palladium alloy PdO-Pd for use as an electrocatalyst in DSSC counter electrodes

•Effect of cobalt electrolyte and palladium counter electrodes on the function of DSSC was examined.•High power conversion efficiency (5.8%) and fill factor (66.4%) were obtained.•Enhanced catalytic effectiveness of the alloy counter electrodes were attributed to the palladium oxide.•Modest stability was observed for the developed counter electrodes. This report outlines the development of a palladium oxide electrocatalyst for use in dye sensitized solar cell counter electrodes. High catalytic efficiency of palladium makes it a feasible alternative to platinum with its provision in the form of an alloy where it is used in minimal quantities potentially reducing cell production cost. High catalytic activity was observed for the cell with 5.82% power conversion efficiency. Short circuit current and open circuit voltage for the developed cell were estimated a 12mA∙cm−2 and 0.73 V indicative of a high functional cell which limits photoanode recombination's. Moderate stability was observed for the DSSC with minimal reduction in peak efficiency over a prolonged use in the cobalt electrolyte. Results show that the developed oxide based counter electrode could be a viable option for use in DSSC as long as an effective method to reduce its impact on cost is implemented.