Incorporating carbon nanotube in a low-temperature fabrication process for dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cells☆

Lee, Kun‐Mu; Hu, Chih‐Wei; Chen, Hsin–Wei; Ho, Kuo–Chuan

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2008.07.012

Cited by 212 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…Use of MWCNTs in DSSCs is an active area of research, and early work in this field used MWCNTs in DSSCs as either a counter electrode, 25 an additive, 26 or as a nanocomposite material. [27][28][29] MWCNT-titania nanocomposites have been fabricated by a number of ways such as sol-gel, 30 mechanical mixing, 10 electro-spinning, 14,23 electrophoresis deposition, 31 novel surfactant solgel wrapping, 18 blending, 13 physical vapour deposition, sputtering deposition, 16 supercritical fluid deposition, 19 capillary action, hydrothermal 32 and chemical vapour deposition (CVD). 33 MWCNTs agglomerate easily and extra care must be taken to ensure that the nanotubes disperse homogeneously within a matrix of interest.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiwalled carbon nanotube-titania nanocomposites: Understanding nano-structural parameters and functionality in dye-sensitized solar cells

Mombeshora¹,

Simoyi²,

Nyamori³

et al. 2015

S.Afr.j.chem

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Nanocomposites consisting of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and titania were synthesized by two methods, namely, sol-gel and chemical vapour deposition (CVD) methods. The work takes advantage of the bridging ability of nanotechnology between macromolecules and the solid state process in engineering alternative nanomaterials for various applications including solar cell fabrication. Physical and chemical characterization of the mesoporous nanocomposites from the two synthetic methods were investigated using Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, surface characterization and X-ray diffraction analysis. Physicochemical properties in the nanocomposites such as thermal stability, pore volume, crystallinity and surface area were observed to be a subject of MWCNT: titania ratios and synthetic methods. From the CVD synthetic method, observed attributes include more uniform and smoother coating; better crystallinity and larger pore width than sol-gel method. On the other hand, nanocomposites from sol-gel synthetic method had larger surface areas, were more defective and less thermally stable than those from CVD. Nanocomposites by the CVD method performed 39.2 % more efficient than those from sol-gel in light-harvesting experiments. The study shows that the nanocomposites synthesized were more effective than titania alone when the cheaper natural dye, Eosin B, was used. This highlights the great potential of typical nanomaterials in improving the performances of titania in DSSCs as well as lowering the cost of the ultimate devices.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiwalled carbon nanotube-titania nanocomposites: Understanding nano-structural parameters and functionality in dye-sensitized solar cells

Mombeshora¹,

Simoyi²,

Nyamori³

et al. 2015

S.Afr.j.chem

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“…The second effect of the SWNTs is the decrease of the interfacial resistance. 31,32 The electrical resistance between n-type material and ITO electrode is reduced by the outstanding conductive properties of SWNTs. The third reason is the enhancement of the electric field in the photovoltaic devices, which implies the improvement of the electron-transfer rate in the PEC.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancement of Photocurrent Generation by C₆₀-encapsulated Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes in Ru-sensitized Photoelectrochemical Cell

Lee

Park

Lee

et al. 2012

Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society

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Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and C 60 -encapsulated SWNTs (C 60 @SWNTs) are introduced to Rusensitized photoelectrochemical cells (PECs), and photocurrents are compared between two cells, i.e., an RuL 2 (NCS) 2 /DAPV/SWNTs/ITO cell and an RuL 2 (NCS) 2 /DAPV/C 60 @SWNTs/ITO cell. [L = 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid, DAPV = di-(3-aminopropyl)-viologen, and ITO = indium-tin oxide] The photocurrents are increased by 70.6% in the presence of C 60 @SWNTs. To explain the photocurrent increase, the reverse-field emission method is used, i.e., RuL 2 (NCS) 2 /DAPV/SWNTs/ITO cell (or RuL 2 (NCS) 2 /DAPV/ C 60 @SWNTs/ITO cell) as an anode and a counter electrode Pt as a cathode in the external electric field. The improved field emission properties, i.e., β (field enhancement factor) and emission currents in the reverse-field emission with C 60 @SWNTs indicate the enhancement of the PEC electric field, which implies the improvement of the electron transfer rate along with the reduced charge recombination in the cell.

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“…Generally, the impedance spectra of the DSSCs contains three semicircles, 29 which are attributed in terms of decreasing frequency to electrochemical reactions at the counter electrode/ electrolyte interface ͑Z 1 ͒ in the high-frequency region, the electron transfer at the TiO 2 / dye/ electrolyte interface ͑Z 2 ͒ in the middle-frequency region, and the Nernst diffusion impedance of the redox species in the electrolyte ͑Z 3 ͒ in the low frequency region. The real parts of Z 1 , Z 2 , and Z 3 represent the resistance elements as R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 , respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-dimensional double deck meshlike dye-sensitized solar cells

Wang

Yang

2010

Journal of Applied Physics

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A transmission line model for the optical simulation of multilayer structures and its application for oblique illumination of an organic solar cell with anisotropic extinction coefficient J. Appl. Phys. 110, 114506 (2011) Polymer solar cells with gold nanoclusters decorated multi-layer graphene as transparent electrode APL: Org. Electron. Photonics 4, 259 (2011) Polymer solar cells with gold nanoclusters decorated multi-layer graphene as transparent electrode Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 223302 (2011) Cliff-like conduction band offset and KCN-induced recombination barrier enhancement at the CdS/Cu2ZnSnS4 thin-film solar cell heterojunction Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 222105 (2011) Effect of a symmetry breaking layer on the open circuit voltage of conventional bulk-heterojunction solar cells Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 213302 (2011) Additional information on J. Appl. Phys. In this paper, we develop a new type of three-dimensional dye-sensitized solar cells ͑3D DSSCs͒ with double deck cylindrical Ti meshes as the substrates. One of the Ti meshes is anodized to in situ synthesize the self-organized TiO 2 nanotube layer as the photoanode materials. Another Ti mesh is platinized through electrodeposition as the counter electrode. The morphologies of the electrodes are characterized by scanning electron microscopy. We investigate the effect of the mesh number on the 3D DSSCs with the dye adsorption, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results show that with the increase in the mesh number, the dye-loadings on the photoanode and the active surface area of Pt on the counter electrode are increased, while the diffusion of the electrolyte becomes more difficult due to the reduced diameter of the openings in the mesh. It has also been demonstrated that the performance of this 3D DSSC is independent of the incident solar beam angle due to its axial symmetrical structure. In the I-V measurement, the 3D DSSC based on the 90-mesh photoanode and the 120-mesh counter electrode shows the highest conversion efficiency of 5.5% under standard AM 1.5 sunlight. The problems of electrical insulator layer are discussed and further investigation is expected.

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Incorporating carbon nanotube in a low-temperature fabrication process for dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cells☆

Cited by 212 publications

References 30 publications

Multiwalled carbon nanotube-titania nanocomposites: Understanding nano-structural parameters and functionality in dye-sensitized solar cells

Multiwalled carbon nanotube-titania nanocomposites: Understanding nano-structural parameters and functionality in dye-sensitized solar cells

Enhancement of Photocurrent Generation by C₆₀-encapsulated Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes in Ru-sensitized Photoelectrochemical Cell

Three-dimensional double deck meshlike dye-sensitized solar cells

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Incorporating carbon nanotube in a low-temperature fabrication process for dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cells☆

Cited by 212 publications

References 30 publications

Multiwalled carbon nanotube-titania nanocomposites: Understanding nano-structural parameters and functionality in dye-sensitized solar cells

Multiwalled carbon nanotube-titania nanocomposites: Understanding nano-structural parameters and functionality in dye-sensitized solar cells

Enhancement of Photocurrent Generation by C60-encapsulated Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes in Ru-sensitized Photoelectrochemical Cell

Three-dimensional double deck meshlike dye-sensitized solar cells

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Enhancement of Photocurrent Generation by C₆₀-encapsulated Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes in Ru-sensitized Photoelectrochemical Cell