Transition‐Metal‐Modified Polyaniline Nanofiber Counter Electrode for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Novel polyaniline (PANI) nanofiber counter electrodes (CEs) modified with different transition metal ions were synthesized and showed remarkable catalytic activity for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The PANI nanofiber–transition metal ion electrodes were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, current density–voltage curves, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and Tafel polarization plots. The PANI CEs modified with Ni2+ and Co2+ exhibited low charge‐transfer and series resistances, which indicate high electrocatalytic activity toward the iodide redox shuttle. In contrast, the PANI CE modified with Mn2+ did not show much difference in its catalytic behavior, whereas the PANI—Cu2+ CE showed reduced electrochemical performance. The photovoltaic performances of the DSSCs based on the PANI–Ni2+ and PANI–Co2+ CEs were evaluated and they were found to exhibit power conversion efficiency of 4.70 and 4.57 %, higher than that of the pristine PANI‐CE‐based device (3.87 %). These easily fabricated PANI–metal composites with improved electrochemical activities are promising CEs for DSSCs to replace expensive Pt.

The effect of polyaniline electrode doped with transition metal ions for supercapacitors

“…Compared with other the doped‐PANI electrode, the PANI‐Cu 2+ shows more very poor cycle life, which is caused by two reasons for this as follows: i) the coordination configurations of the above four transition metal ions with PANI monomers in polymerization solution are different: octahedron (Ni 2+ and Co 2 ), tetrahedron (Mn 2+ ), and planar (Cu 2+ ). Among these three structures, the octahedral structure is most advantageous for the electronic transmission, followed by the tetrahedron structure, and finally, the planar structure because of different conjugate degree (large π bond) 47 . This indicates that different electron‐transport mechanisms might be taking place in the four different M 2+ doping PANI; ii) According to the metal activity sequence table, only Cu is after H, which will affect the Faraday process of the doped‐PANI electrode of PsCs, the Faraday process is accompanied with reversible redox reactions at the electroactive site of the electrode.…”

Tuning the Assembly Process of Polyaniline Nanofibers by Adjusting the Acidic Nature and Solution Acidity toward Enhancing Electrochemical Charge Storage

“…1,4,5 Especially, nanostructured PANI materials such as nanowires, nanorods, nanobelts, and nanofibers could exhibit superior properties by achieving more efficient utilization of a pseudocapacitive material by increasing electrochemical contact between the electrode and electrolyte and provide a great possibility of fabricating flexible devices. 2,5,6 Among these nanostructures, thin PANI nanofibers with larger specific area and faster charge transport can be expected to offer tremendous potential for high-performance supercapacitors. 1,3,5 Template-free polymerizations such as interfacial polymerization, rapid-mixing polymerization, dilute polymerization, and seed polymerization are four kinds of easy and inexpensive approaches for fabricating high-purity PANI nanofibers without the help of hard and soft templates as well as surfactants.…”

“…With the increasing demands for energy consumption, a lot of efforts have been recently devoted to developing efficient electrode materials for energy storage devices. − Electrode materials are one kind of the most critical elements for enhancing the performance of supercapacitors. Among the various conducting polymers, polyaniline (PANI) has been demonstrated to possess great potential as a commercial electrode material with high feasibility to satisfy the requirement of light weight and flexibility for wearable energy devices due to inexpensive monomers, easy synthesis, controlled morphology, high electrical conductivity, and highly reversible and fast redox reaction. ,, Especially, nanostructured PANI materials such as nanowires, nanorods, nanobelts, and nanofibers could exhibit superior properties by achieving more efficient utilization of a pseudocapacitive material by increasing electrochemical contact between the electrode and electrolyte and provide a great possibility of fabricating flexible devices. ,, Among these nanostructures, thin PANI nanofibers with larger specific area and faster charge transport can be expected to offer tremendous potential for high-performance supercapacitors. ,, …”

Effect of Molybdenum Disulfide on the Performance of Polyaniline Based Counter Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Applications

“…Among conducting polymers, PANI and its nanocomposites with various inorganic materials such as Au [9], Al [10], and other transition metals [11] have been investigated and the results have revealed comparable electronic and catalytic properties. Other advantages include low-cost synthesis, low-temperature coating, and ease in availability of raw materials.…”