Low temperature growth of carbon nanotubes using chemical bath deposited Ni(OH)2 – An efficient Pt-free counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) offer many advantages in comparison to their Si-based counterparts, including lower cost of raw materials, faster manufacturing time, and the ability to be integrated with flexible substrates. Although many advances have been made in DSSC fabrication over recent years, their efficiency remains lower than commercially available Si photovoltaic cells. Here we report improved efficiency of TiO2/anthocyanin dye solar cell using aligned arrays of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a counter electrode. Dense vertically oriented CNT arrays are grown directly on the counter electrode using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition and a tri-layer (Ti/Al/Fe) catalyst. The resulting arrays are 30 micrometers in height and have a number density of approximately five hundred million per square millimeter. By directly growing the CNTs on the counter electrode substrate, electrical interface conductance is enhanced. The performance of both as-grown and N-doped (using a nitrogen plasma) CNT arrays is reported. The fabricated DSSCs are tested under AM1.5 light. Increased short circuit current is observed in comparison to graphite and Pt counter electrodes. We attribute this improvement to the large surface area created by the 3D structure of the arrays in comparison to the planar geometry of the graphite and Pt electrodes as well as the excellent electrical properties of the CNTs.

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Application of Carbon Nanotubes to Counter Electrodes of Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Chemistry Letters ◽

10.1246/cl.2003.28 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 28-29 ◽

Cited By ~ 399

Author(s):

Kazuharu Suzuki ◽

Makoto Yamaguchi ◽

Mikio Kumagai ◽

Shozo Yanagida

Keyword(s):

Carbon Nanotubes ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells ◽

Counter Electrodes ◽

Dye Sensitized ◽

Sensitized Solar Cells

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Dye Sensitized Solar Cells with Low Cost Carbon Nanotubes Electrodes

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering ◽

10.1155/2016/4928710 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

F. M. Al-Marzouki ◽

S. Abdalla ◽

S. Al-Ameer

Keyword(s):

Carbon Nanotubes ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Low Cost ◽

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells ◽

Counter Electrodes ◽

Partial Shading ◽

Dye Sensitized ◽

Solid Film ◽

Solar Conversion ◽

Sensitized Solar Cells

Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are very sensitive to electrodes, due to either high cost or easy corrosion problems. To minimize these factors, we present DSSCs with cheap carbon nanotubes as counter electrodes. In addition, we suggest replacing the electrolyte (in typical DSSCs) with a solid film of powdered CsSnI3. The electrical behavior (I-Vcharacteristics) of the proposed device has been measured for different shading conditions. In the light of a theoretical model based on the presence of two diodes, the experimental data have been explained, taking into account a new equivalent circuit for the DSSC. These DSSCs may receive different levels of sun radiation, which stimulates the study of partial shading; so, we have studied the effect of different shadow rates on the solar conversion efficiency of a unit of 4-W-connected DSSCs. The validity of the present model has been examined by fitting it intoI-Vcharacteristics at different shading rates.

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