Conducting polymer/carbon nanotube composite as counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

This letter reports dye-sensitized solar cells with a thin film of multiwall carbon nanotube/conducting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) composite as the counterelectrode. The composite thin film was prepared by spin coating the aqueous solution of the composite. The devices exhibited high performance with the energy conversion efficiency of 6.5%, short-circuit current of 15.5 mA cm-2, open-circuit voltage of 0.66 V, and fill factor of 0.63. This performance is close to the devices using conventional platinum as the counterelectrode and is significantly higher than the ones using a thin film of multiwall carbon nanotube/poly(styrenesulfonate acide) composite as the counterelectrode. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.