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 Jan 2014
Accepted
17 Mar 2014
First published
18 Mar 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

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