A review on counter electrode materials in dye-sensitized solar cells

作者：Thomas, Sara; Deepak, T. G.; Anjusree, G. S.; Arun, T. A.; Nair, Shantikumar V.; Nair, A. Sreekumaran^*

来源：Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2014, 2(13): 4474-4490.

DOI：10.1039/c3ta13374e

• CARBON NANOTUBE SCAFFOLDS
• LOW-COST
• FUNCTIONALIZED GRAPHENE
• PLATINUM NANOCRYSTALS
• CATALYTIC-ACTIVITY
• TUNGSTEN CARBIDE
• CHARGE-TRANSFER
• EFFICIENT
• COMPOSITE
• TIO2

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) present promising low-cost alternatives to the conventional silicon (Si)based solar cells. A DSC consists of several components, the most prominent being a titanium dioxide/metal oxide-based photoanode, a dye, an electrolyte and a counter electrode. The photoexcited electrons from the dye diffuse through the TiO2 network in the photoanode and go to the counter electrode which generally consists of platinum (Pt) sputtered onto a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) plate. The Pt in the counter electrode helps in the regeneration of dyes by catalysing the I- regeneration from the I-3(-) species in the redox couple. The morphology of Pt, its surface roughness, nature of the exposed facet, etc. play a crucial role in determining the overall efficiency of a DSC device. With Pt being a costly noble metal, reasonable efforts have been made to find cheaper alternatives. The review presented below gives a succinct summary of the materials in use as counter electrodes in DSCs, with a conclusion and future prospects section.

• 出版日期2014
• 单位河北医科大学