Issue 28, 2014

Low-cost and flexible poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) based counter electrodes for efficient energy conversion in dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

A roll-to-roll slot die coating process was used to deposit PEDOT:PSS on PET and the resulting composite films were evaluated for use as counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The effect of depositing an additional layer of electropolymerized PEDOT onto the flat PEDOT/PET electrodes was also studied. Counter electrodes and complete DSCs were characterized by steady-state current–voltage, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and IPCE measurements. Evidence that the PEDOT-based counter electrode can modify the electrolyte solution composition, probably by increasing the proton concentration, is presented. The overall cell performance under 1 Sun illumination is improved by addition of an electropolymerized layer of PEDOT to flat PEDOT/PET counter electrodes, but both remain inferior to platinized FTO. Under 0.2 Sun illumination, devices employing counter electrodes with electropolymerized PEDOT on a PEDOT/PET substrate (named as EP/PEDOT/PET) perform almost similarly to those with platinized FTO counter electrodes, suggesting that EP/PEDOT/PET electrodes may be useful in DSCs designed for low light (e.g. indoor) operation, especially considering the low costs of PEDOT and the roll-to-roll and electropolymerization processes.

Graphical abstract: Low-cost and flexible poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) based counter electrodes for efficient energy conversion in dye-sensitized solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 Qun 2014
Accepted
17 Cig 2014
First published
18 Cig 2014

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2014,2, 10938-10944

Low-cost and flexible poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) based counter electrodes for efficient energy conversion in dye-sensitized solar cells

W. C. Liu, Y. Liu, J. R. Jennings, H. Huang and Q. Wang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2014, 2, 10938 DOI: 10.1039/C4TA00563E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements