Polymer Counter Electrode in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Document Type : compile

Author

Academic Staff

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted interest as clean electrical energy
due to their low cost and environmentally friendly. In classical dye-sensitized
solar cells, platinum metal is applied as a counter electrode, but due to its high cost and
platinum susceptibility towards corrosion, the development and large-scale production
of dye-sensitized solar cells have been disputed. To resolve this problem, polymers can
be taken as a replacement for platinum due to their affordability, synthetic simplicity
and easy usage. The conjugated polymers suitable for use in the counter electrode are:
polypyrrole (PPy), polyaniline (PANI), poly(3,4-propylenedioxythiophene) (PProDOT),
poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-
polystyreneslufonate(PEDOT-PSS) copolymer. By referring to its high electrical
conductivity, stability and nanoporous structure, PEDOT, is very suitable for use in solar
cells as the counter electrode. The performance of the polymer counter electrode in a
dye-sensitized solar cells are determined by various factors: catalytic activity, electronic
conductivity, surface area, matching, electrochemical stability, surface morphology, surface
roughness, thickness, porosity, adhesion, particle size, and crystal structure. The purpose of
this article is to introduce and delineate the kind of polymer to employ as counter electrode
in dye-sensitized solar cells and the parameters affecting the performance of polymer
counter electrode. Finally, some brief accounts on the performances and outlook for the
polymer counter electrode are presented.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

1. Kumavat P.P., Sonar P., and Dalal D.S., An Overview on Basics of Organic and Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, Their Mechanism and Recent Improvements, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., 78, 1262-1287, 2017.
2. Kumara N.T.R.N., Lim A., Lim C.M., Iskandar Petra M., and Ekanayake P., Recent Progress and Utilization of Natural Pigments in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells: A Review, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., 78, 301-317, 2017.
3. Hosseinnezhad M., Rouhani S., and Gharanjig K., Extraction and Application of Natural Pigments for Fabrication of Green Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, Opto-Electro. Rev., 26, 165-171, 2018.
4. Martins S., Avo J., Lima J., Nogueira J., Andrade L., Mendes A., et al., Styryl and Phenylethynyl Based Coumarin Chromophores for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, J. Photochem. Photobiol. A, 353, 564-569, 2018.
5. Richhariya G., Kumar A., Tekasakul P., and Gupta B., Natural Dyes for Dye Sensitized Solar Cell: A Review, Renew. Sust. Energy Rev., 69, 705-718, 2017.
6. Hosseinnezhad M., Moradian S., and Gharanjig K., Natural Dyes Extracted from Black Carrot and Bramble for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, Prog. Color Colorants Coat., 8, 153-158, 2015.
7. Hosseinnezhad M. and Gharanjig K., Review on Effect of Vario usAnchoring Groups on Optical and Electronic Properties Dye-sensitized Solar Cells, J. Studies Color World (Persian), 6, 61-70, 2016.
8. Hosseinnezhad M., Moradian S., and Gharanjig K., Acid Azo Dyes for Efficient Molecular Photovoltaic: Study of Dye-sensitized Solar Cells Performance, Prog. Color Colorants Coat., 9, 61-70, 2016.
9. Yuna S., Nei Freitasb J., Nogueirac A.F., Wangd Y., Ahmade S., and Wang Z., Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Employing Polymers, Prog. Polym. Sci., 59, 1-40, 2016.
10. Yan S., Hagfeldt A., and Ma T., Pt-free Counter Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with High Efficiency, Adv. Mater., 26, 6210-6237, 2014.
11. Thomas S., Deepak T.G., Anjusree G.S., Arun T.A., Nair S.V., and Nair A.S., A Review on Counter Electrode Materials in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2, 4474-4490,2014.
12. Wu J., Lan Z., Lin J., Huang M., Huang Y., Fan L., et al., Counter Electrodes in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells, Chem. Soc. Rev., 46, 5975-6023, 2017.
13. Xia J., Chen I., and Yanagida S., Application of Polypyrrole As a Counter Electrode for a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, J. Mater. Chem., 21, 4644-4649, 2011.
14. Peng T., Sun W., Tang Q., Lan Z, Li P., Lin J., and Fan L., Self-assembled Free-standing Polypyrrole Nanotube Membrane as an Efficient FTO- and Pt-free Counter Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 6, 14-17, 2013.
15. Wu M., Lin X., Wang Y., Wang L., Guo W., Qi D., et al., Economical Pt-free Catalysts for Counter Electrodes of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 134, 3419-3428, 2012.
16. Li Q., Wu J., Tang Q., Lan Z., Li P., Lin J., and Fan L., Application of Microporous Polyaniline Counter Electrode for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, Electrochem. Commun., 10, 1299-
1302, 2008.
17. Tai Q., Chen B., Guo F., Xu S., Hu H., Sebo B., and Zhao X.Z., In Situ Prepared Transparent Polyaniline Electrode and its Application in Bifacial Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, ACS Nano, 5, 3795-3799, 2011.
18. Fan X., Chu Z., Wang F., Zhang C., Chen I., Tang Y., and Zou D., Wire-shaped Flexible Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, Adv. Mater., 20, 592-595, 2008.
19. Trevison R., Dobbelin M., Boix P.P., Barea E.M., Tenazaera R., Morasera I., and Bisquert J., PEDOT Nanotube Arrays as High Performing Counter Electrodes for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells: Study of the Interactions Among Electrolytes and Counter Electrodes, Adv. Energy Mater., 1, 781-784, 2011.
20. Tsao H.N., Burschka J., Yi C., Kessler F., Nazeerudin M.K., and Gratzel M., Influence of the Interfacial Charge-Transfer Resistance at the Counter Electrode in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Employing Cobalt Redox Shuttles, Energy Environ. Sci., 4, 4921-4924, 2011.
21. Lee K.M., Hsu C.Y., Chen P.Y., Ikegami M., Miyasaka T., and Ho K.C., Highly Porous PPorDOT-Et2 Film as Counter Electrode for Plastic Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 11, 3375-3379, 2009.
22. Ghamouss F., Pitson R., Odobel F., Boujtita M., Caramori S., and Bignozzi C.A., Characterization of Screen Printed Carbon Counter Electrodes for Co(II)/(III) Mediated Photoelectrochemical Cells, Electrochim. Acta, 55, 6517-6522, 2010.
23. Yue G., Wu J., Xia Y., Lin J., and Huang M., Low Cost Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): Polystyrene sulfonate/ Carbon Black Counter Electrode for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, Electronchim. Acta, 67, 113-118, 2012.
24. Lin X., Wu M., Wang Y., Hagfeldt A., and Ma T., Novel Counter Electrode Catalysts of Niobium Oxides Supersede Pt for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, Chem. Commun., 47, 11489- 11491, 2011.
25. Yun S., Pu H., Chen J., Hagfedt A., and Ma T., Enhanced Performance of Supported HfO2 Counter Electrodes for Redox Couples Used in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, Chem. Sustain.  Chem., 7, 442-450, 2014.
26. Jeon S., Kim C., Ko J., and Im S., Spherical Polypyrrole Nanoparticles as a Highly Efficient Counter Electrode for a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, J. Mater. Chem., 21, 8146-8151, 2011.
27. Ma J., Qingfeng S., Fengbao Z., and Mindxing W., Improvement on the Catalytic Activity of the Flexible PEDOT Counter Electrode in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, Mater. Res. Bull., 100, 213-219, 2018.
28. Anothumakkool B., Agrawal I., Bhang S.N., Soni R., Game O.S., Ogale S.B., and Kurungot S., Pt- and TCO-Free Flexible Cathode for DSSC from Highly Conducting and Flexible PEDOT Paper Prepared Via In-situ Interfacial Polymerization, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 8, 553-562, 2016.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics