Improved performance of dye-sensitized solar cells upon sintering of a PEDOT cathode at various temperatures

Abstract

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) thin films have attracted considerable attention as cathodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) due to their air-stable, light-weight and conductive nature. To demonstrate their thermal stability as cathodes, PEDOT thin films coated via electrochemical polymerization on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) plates were sintered at different temperatures (50, 100, 150, 200, and 300 C) for 1 h and a comparison was made with the as-prepared PEDOT thin films. We observed a negative temperature coefficient effect up to 200 C along with lower surface roughness upon increasing the sintering temperature. Dye solar cells were fabricated using PEDOT thin films (sintered at different temperatures) and as-prepared PEDOT cathodes, and their respective performances were studied. The results showed increased efficiency with the increase in sintering temperatures of the cathode up to 200 C (h ¼ 4.33%) under the present experimental conditions. Cathodes sintered at 300 C had poor electrochemical behavior and J-V performance, which may be due to polymer degradation.

Recent advances in eco-friendly and cost-effective materials towards sustainable dye-sensitized solar cells

“…Consequently, alternative materials need to be developed, such as PEDOT or carbonaceous materials (section 2.3.1). 243 In 2015, two interesting reports were published using a composite TiC/carbon 244 and a full carbon CE. 242 In particular, the TiC/carbon composite electrode was hydrothermally synthesized using TiC and glucose as the carbon source.…”

Recent advancements and challenges in flexible low temperature dye sensitised solar cells

“…The counter electrode collects the electrons from the external circuit in order to regenerate the redox couple. The catalyst materials used for the counter electrode are required to have high catalytic activity with high conductivity and low charge transfer resistance for charge transport to yield high efficiencies [139]. Apart from that, an optimal counter electrode catalyst should also have low cost, large surface area, chemical corrosion resistance and good adhesive with the conductive substrate [4].…”

“…PEDOT is a conductive polymer that has received a great deal of attention as counter electrode owing to their good conductivity, electrochemical stability and catalytic activity, diverse structure, lightweight and easy processing with ability to be used as transparent electrode [139,153]. PEDOT and PEDOT/Pt counter electrode was used in From literature, it can be seen that platinum is still a very good option as counter electrode catalyst due to the high performance and conversion efficiency produced despite the high cost of Pt.…”

In‐situ doping and post‐treatments modulate the photoelectrical properties and stability of electropolymerization poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)

“…Conducting polymers based on thiophene and its derivatives have attracted much attention because of their excellent electrochemical behavior. Among them, because of its good transparency and high conductivity, PEDOT has been applied to electrode materials, 1 electrochromic materials, 2 functional antistatic coatings, 3 biosensors, 4 electrolytic capacitors, 1 supercapacitor, 5 and solar cells, 6 etc. The introduction of the ultra‐thin poly(triarylamine) (PTAA) layer sandwiched between the perovskite layer and the poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS) layer for the preparation of efficient and stable perovskite solar cells can achieve energy band alignment, in order to inhibit the interfacial recombination and accelerate the hole transmission 7 .…”