All-carbon electrode-based fiber-shaped dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

A novel fiber-shaped dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on an all-carbon electrode is presented, where low-cost, highly-stable, and biocompatible carbon materials are applied to both the photoanode and the counter electrode. The fibrous carbon-based photoanode has a core–shell structure, with carbon fiber core used as conductive substrate to collect carriers and sensitized porous TiO₂ film as shell to harvest light effectively. The highly catalytic all-carbon counter electrode is made from ink carbon coatings and carbon fiber substrate. Results show that the open circuit voltage can be largely improved through engineering at the carbon fiber/TiO₂ interface. An optimized diameter of the photoanode results in an efficiency of 1.9%. It is the first demonstration of efficient DSSCs based on all-carbon electrodes, and the devices are totally free from TCOs or any other expensive electrode materials. Also, this type of solar cell is significant in obtaining bio-friendly all-carbon photovoltaics suitable for large-scale production.