Highly Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Based on Carbon Black Counter Electrodes

Abstract

Carbon black was employed as the catalyst for triiodide reduction on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrates ͑FTO-glass͒ used as counter electrodes in platinum-free dye-sensitized solar cells. The fill factors were strongly dependent on the thickness of the carbon layer, and the light energy conversion efficiency also increased up to a thickness of 10 m. The charge-transfer resistance ͑R ct ͒ of the carbon counter electrode decreased with the thickness of the carbon layer. The R ct for the thicker carbon layer is less than three times that for the platinized FTO-glass. The highest cell efficiency was 9.1% under 100 mW cm −2 light intensity ͑1 sun AM 1.5 light, J sc = 16.8 mA cm −2 , V oc = 789.8 mV, fill factor = 0.685͒.

Functionalized Graphene as a Catalytic Counter Electrode in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

“…At zero bias, the charge-transfer resistance of a thermally decomposed chloroplatinic acid cell is 0.79 ⍀ cm 2 , which agrees well with literature values (0.5Ϫ1.8 ⍀ cm 2 ), and is well below the 10 ⍀ cm 2 level needed for high-performance cells. 7,9,35,36 At zero bias, the FGS 13 based counter electrodes performed relatively poorly, with a charge-transfer resistance of www.acsnano.org 9.4 ⍀ cm 2 recorded for cells spun at 1000 rpm. These values are based on the geometric surface area of the electrode and not the accessible surface area due to the porosity of the material.…”

Voltage enhancement in dye-sensitized solar cell using (001)-oriented anatase TiO2 nanosheets

“…To avoid irregularities in dye attachment [31], the sensitization time and temperature were identical for all the tested electrodes. The DSC was assembled with platinized F-doped tin oxide (FTO) counter electrode [32,33] …”

Influence of the counter electrode on the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells using a disulfide/thiolate redox electrolyte

“…Especially for practical large-scale applications, it is required to replace the expensive platinum by a cheaper and abundant counter electrode material in order to make the DSC technology cost-effective. 12 In this context, electrocatalysts ranging from carbon-based materials, such as carbon black, 13 PEDOT is a well-known conductive polymer with numerous applications that is extensively used, for instance as a buffer layer in organic light-emitting diodes, oxygen reduction catalyst or antistatic coating. 22 PEDOT is usually deposited from a commercially available aqueous dispersion of PEDOT, stabilized with poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS), that can be applied by any of the wet chemistry methods such as spin-coating or doctor-blading to yield transparent thin films of good chemical and electrochemical stability.…”