A carbon nanotube-based transparent conductive substrate for flexible ZnO dye-sensitized solar cells

Du, Juan; Bittner, Florian; Hecht, David S.; Ladous, Corinne; Ellinger, Jan; Oekermann, Torsten; Wark, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2012.12.051

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…[10b,11c] Wei et al made a flexible solid‐state DSSC by using novel ionic liquid gel as electrolyte, ZnO nanoparticles, and CNT‐TCFs (fabricated by vacuum filtration method) on PET as photoanode. Despite the fact that CNTs have higher work functions (4.7–4.9 eV) to that of ZnO (4.4 eV), their CNTs‐ZnO based flexible DSSCs exhibited very low efficiency with J sc of only 2.23 mA cm −2 and an open circuit voltage ( V oc ) of only 0.23 V . To enhance the performance of the CNT‐DSSCs, Du et al reported a flexible liquid DSSC by using liquid I 3 − /I − redox couple as electrolyte, dye sensitized porous ZnO film fabricated by an electrochemical deposition was employed as photoanode (see Figure d), Although a relative higher PCE (2.5%) was obtained, the performance of CNT‐TCFs based DSSCs are still much lower than that of traditional TCO films based DSSCs .…”

Section: Front‐side Illuminated Tco‐free Flexible Thin Film Scsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the fact that CNTs have higher work functions (4.7–4.9 eV) to that of ZnO (4.4 eV), their CNTs‐ZnO based flexible DSSCs exhibited very low efficiency with J sc of only 2.23 mA cm −2 and an open circuit voltage ( V oc ) of only 0.23 V . To enhance the performance of the CNT‐DSSCs, Du et al reported a flexible liquid DSSC by using liquid I 3 − /I − redox couple as electrolyte, dye sensitized porous ZnO film fabricated by an electrochemical deposition was employed as photoanode (see Figure d), Although a relative higher PCE (2.5%) was obtained, the performance of CNT‐TCFs based DSSCs are still much lower than that of traditional TCO films based DSSCs . The major reason for the poor PCEs for CNT‐TCFs (anode) based DSSCs can be explained by their working principle: in a typical liquid DSSC, the excited electrons injected from the conduction band of semiconducting oxide (e.g., TiO 2 or ZnO) will recombine with I 3 − in the electrolyte at the electrolyte/photoanode interface.…”

Section: Front‐side Illuminated Tco‐free Flexible Thin Film Scsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recent Development of Transparent Conducting Oxide‐Free Flexible Thin‐Film Solar Cells

Guo

Zhang

et al. 2016

Adv Funct Materials

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The rapid development of the modern electronics gives rise to higher demands of flexible and wearable energy resources. Flexible transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) are one of the essential components for flexible/wearable thin-film solar cells (SCs). In this regard, commercial indium tin oxide (ITO) on plastics has demonstrated superior optoelectronic performance although some drawbacks, i.e., the low abundance, film brittleness, low infrared transmittance, and poor chemical stability remain. On the other hand, several other transparent conducting oxide (TCO)-free transparent conductive materials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, metallic nanowires (NWs), and conducting polymers, have experienced a rapid development to address these issues. In this feature article, an overview over the latest development of several flexible TCO-free thin film SCs, i.e., organic solar cells (OSCs), dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), perovskite solar cells (pero-SCs), and fiber/wire-shaped SCs is provided. Three groups of flexible TCO-free thin film solar cells can be categorized according to their configurations: (i) frontside illuminated planar configuration; (ii) back-side illuminated planar configuration, and (iii) fiber-shaped solar cells (FSSCs). The article is focused onflexible TCO-free TCEs, including CNTs, graphene, metallic NW/nanotroughs, metallic grids, conducting polymers, metallic fiber, and carbon based fibers. applications in energy conversion and storage. [8] However, more coverage and concept have been raised and some new type SCs have been developed these years.To systematically summarize different TCO-free TCFs and their applications in thin film SCs, here we attempt to categorize flexible ITO-free thin film SCs into three groups according to their configurations (Figure 1): (i) light is supposed to irradiate from flat photoanodes/TCFs side (front-side illuminated configuration); (ii) photoanode on an opaque substrate and light is supposed to irradiate from a transparent top electrode (back-side illuminated configuration); and (iii) both active layers and counter electrodes (CEs) are fabricated onto cylindrical substrates (flexible fiber-shaped solar cells (FSSCs)). In this review, the latest progress on flexible TCO-free thin film SCs including OSCs, DSSCs, QDSCs, pero-SCs, and fiber/ wire-shaped SCs are presented. Focus was given to their flexible TCO-free TCFs including CNTs, graphene, metallic NW/ nanotroughs, metallic grids, conducting polymers, metallic fiber, and carbon based fibers. The aim of this feature article is to give an overview on the various recent works on flexible ITO-free thin film SCs done by researchers to develop new-style TCEs. The paper will be arranged according to three different configurations as shown in Figure 1. Front-Side Illuminated TCO-Free Flexible Thin Film SCsThese years, most research efforts have been put into designing and fabricating TCO-free flexible thin film SCs with frontside illuminated configuration. A key issue in the fabrication of such SC is s...

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Section: Front‐side Illuminated Tco‐free Flexible Thin Film Scsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Front‐side Illuminated Tco‐free Flexible Thin Film Scsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Development of Transparent Conducting Oxide‐Free Flexible Thin‐Film Solar Cells

Guo

Zhang

et al. 2016

Adv Funct Materials

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“…To our knowledge, only three papers have been published using CNTs as transparent and conductive components of substrates for DSSC photoelectrodes . Among them, the authors of two papers used ZnO nanoparticles, while the other one used TiO 2 nanoparticles as a semiconducting layer. Wei et al were first to report TCO‐free photoelectrodes in DSSCs.…”

Section: Transparent Conductive Electrodes (Tces)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The CNT‐TCF fabricated in this study showed an R s of 250 Ω sq −1 at 65% transparency and its cell was able to deliver a short circuit current ( J sc ) of only 2.23 mA cm −2 and an open circuit voltage ( V oc ) of only 0.23 V. This poor performance was due to the catalytic property of CNTs for the redox reaction, which limited the continuous electron transfer. Recently, Du et al made further improvement on this DSSC and obtained a PV efficiency of 2.5% by applying electrodeposited CNT films with a relatively high R s (470 Ω sq −1 ) at high transparency. Kyaw et al were able to reduce the charge recombination of CNTs with electrolyte by using a TiO x layer ( Figure ).…”

Section: Transparent Conductive Electrodes (Tces)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon Nanotubes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Batmunkh

Biggs

Shapter

2015

Small

131

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As one type of emerging photovoltaic cell, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are an attractive potential source of renewable energy due to their eco-friendliness, ease of fabrication, and cost effectiveness. However, in DSSCs, the rarity and high cost of some electrode materials (transparent conducting oxide and platinum) and the inefficient performance caused by slow electron transport, poor light-harvesting efficiency, and significant charge recombination are critical issues. Recent research has shown that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising candidates to overcome these issues due to their unique electrical, optical, chemical, physical, as well as catalytic properties. This article provides a comprehensive review of the research that has focused on the application of CNTs and their hybrids in transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs), in semiconducting layers, and in counter electrodes of DSSCs. At the end of this review, some important research directions for the future use of CNTs in DSSCs are also provided.

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“…Additionally, ZnO/MWCNT nanocomposites have potential applications ranging from electrochemical sensors [8], biosensors [9] and supercapacitors [10] to solar cells [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Approach to Synthesis of Free-Standing ZnO/MWCNT Nanocomposites by Vacuum Infiltration

2014

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In this study, free-standing zincoxide/multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposite was synthesized by a multistep technique. Buckypapers having controlled porosity were prepared by vacuum ltration from oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Zinc acetate dihydrate (ZnAc) (Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O) was used as zinc source and ethanol used as solvent. An appropriate amount of monoethanolamine was added to sol to change acid-base media. The solution was vacuum ltered through buckypaper and annealed at 350• C in air. It was found that the zinc oxide grows around the multiwalled carbon nanotubes to form a uniform composite. Morphology of zine oxide/multiwalled carbon nanotube was also studied in detail. Nanocomposite was characterized by X-ray diraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy.

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A carbon nanotube-based transparent conductive substrate for flexible ZnO dye-sensitized solar cells

Cited by 17 publications

References 35 publications

Recent Development of Transparent Conducting Oxide‐Free Flexible Thin‐Film Solar Cells

Recent Development of Transparent Conducting Oxide‐Free Flexible Thin‐Film Solar Cells

Carbon Nanotubes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

A New Approach to Synthesis of Free-Standing ZnO/MWCNT Nanocomposites by Vacuum Infiltration

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