Enhanced light harvesting in dye-sensitized solar cells with highly reflective TCO- and Pt-less counter electrodes

Abstract

A systematic approach was followed to develop a new counter-electrode consisting of a highly reflective polymer substrate and a highly conductive polymer for use in dye-sensitized solar cells. The reflection of the incident light from the substrate allows more solar light to be harvested by the dye. We compared the photovoltaic performance of the TCO- and Pt-less counter-electrodes based on the reflective and pristine polymer substrates. The optimal DSSC composed of the TCO- and Pt-less counter-electrode exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 6.15% when measured using an AM1.5G solar simulator at 100 mW cm⁻² light illumination.