Highly conductive polymer materials based multi-walled carbon nanotubes as counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

ABSTRACT

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxxythiophene) (PEDOT), polyaniline (PANI) and polythiophene (PTh) based multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composites were successfully prepared using RF-rotating plasma grafting method. Morphological characterizations of composites were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which showed that conducting polymers (CPs) of PEDOT, PANI and PTh were coated on the surface of CNTs. The surface properties of the Carbon Nanotube (CNT) composites were also determined by using Infrared Spectra (FT-IR), X-ray Photon Spectra (XPS), and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectra (SEM-EDX) analysis. X-ray photon spectra results confirmed the formation of the composites. Composites of MWCNT were used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as counter electrodes and exhibited short-circuit photocurrent densities of 11.19, 10.70 and 8.54 mA/cm² for PANI/MWCNT, PTh/MWCNT and PEDOT/CNT, respectively.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• carbon nanotube
• conducting polymers
• dye-sensitized solar cells
• counter electrodes

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK; Project no. 114M867). Sule Erten-Ela acknowledges to Turkish Academy Sciences (TUBA), Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), UNESCO-Loreal Foundation.