Nanoporous Platinum Counter Electrodes by Glancing Angle Deposition for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Journal
Organic Electronics
Journal Volume
13
Journal Issue
5
Pages
856-863
Date Issued
2012-05
Author(s)
Sui-Ying Hsu
Chih-Hung Tsai
Chun-Yang Lu
Yu-Tang Tsai
Tsung-Wei Huang
Yuan-Hsuan Jhang
Yan-Fang Chen
Yen-Shan Chen
Abstract
We report an effective way to produce nanoporous Pt counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells by the glancing-angle deposition (GLAD) technique. By controlling the orientation of the substrate relative to the incident Pt vapor flux during the deposition, nanoporous films composed of inclined nm-scale columns were produced through the self-shadowing effect. Pt counter electrodes having varied nanoporous structures were characterized for their morphological and electrochemical properties, and were subjected to device studies to establish the correlation with DSSC characteristics/performances. The results suggest that the nanoporous GLAD Pt electrodes can effectively enhance active surface areas, the catalytic ability and charge exchange at the Pt/electrolyte interface of a DSSC. As a result, the quantum efficiency, short-circuit current, and power conversion efficiency of the DSSC can be enhanced by up to 12-13% with using the nanoporous GLAD Pt counter electrodes. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Subjects
Counter electrode; DSSCs; GLAD; Nanostructure; Platinum; Porous
SDGs
Other Subjects
Charge transfer; Deposition; Efficiency; Electrochemical electrodes; Nanostructures; Platinum; Solar cells; Counter electrodes; DSSCs; GLAD; Glancing Angle Deposition; Glancing angle deposition technique; Porous; Power conversion efficiencies; Self-shadowing effects; Dye-sensitized solar cells
Type
journal article