Nanopatterned conductive polymer films as a Pt, TCO-free counter electrode for low-cost dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

A low-cost nanopatterned highly conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) thin film was fabricated on a flexible plastic substrate via a chemical polymerization method combined with a nanoimprinting technique and used as a platinum (Pt), TCO-free counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The catalytic properties of the nanopatterned PEDOT as the counter electrode in DSSCs were studied using cyclic voltammetry, J-V measurements, impedance spectroscopy, and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. The nanopatterned PEDOT counter electrodes exhibit better functionality as a counter electrode for tri-iodide reduction when compared to non-patterned PEDOT-based counter electrodes. The Pt and TCO-free DSSCs with a nanopatterned PEDOT-based counter electrode exhibited a power conversion efficiency of 7.1% under one sunlight illumination (100 mW cm(-2)), which is comparable to that of conventional DSSCs with standard platinum Pt/FTO paired counter electrodes. The ability to modulate catalytic functionality with changes in nanoscale morphology represents a promising route for developing new counter electrodes of Pt and TCO-free DSSCs.

A high performance cobalt sulfide counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

“…However, Pt is an expensive metal material, and it could be decomposed to PtI 4 or H 2 PtI 6 in the electrolyte containing of iodide/triiodide [3]. Thus, researchers search for other materials to replace Pt, such as carbon materials [4,5], conducting polymers [6][7][8], metal sulfides [9][10][11], metal nitrides [12,13] and so on. Amongst those counter electrode materials, transition-metal sulfides especially CoS is regarded as one kind of the most efficient substances because of its excellent catalytic activity for the reduction of I 3 À .…”

Development of Graphene Nano-Platelet Based Counter Electrodes for Solar Cells

“…However, the Pt coated TCO-CE is the most expensive component in a DSSC [5,6] and its high cost is one of the factors limiting the mass production of DSSCs. Therefore, it is highly important to develop a cost-effective counter electrode without the use of Pt and costly TCOs for use in DSSCs [7]. This requires new low-cost CE materials that are simultaneously abundant, non-toxic and have the ability to provide high power conversion efficiencies in DSSCs.…”

Cost-effective counter electrode electrocatalysts from iron@palladium and iron@platinum alloy nanospheres for dye-sensitized solar cells

“…Since the successful development of perovskite solar cells originated from DSSCs [5e7], the DSSCs having mesoscopic thin films are forward missing their previous highlights. One of the main justifications is the relatively higher cost-performance ratio due to the utilization of precious platinum counter electrode (Pt CE) electrocatalyst [8,9]. In the classical DSSCs, Pt nanostructures are preferred CE catalysts for I 3 À reduction reaction attributing to their superior conductivity, electrocatalytic activity, and stability.…”