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Mesh‐Shaped Nanopatterning of Pt Counter Electrodes for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells with Enhanced Light Harvesting
Author(s) -
Kim Dong Jun,
Koh Jong Kwan,
Lee Chang Soo,
Kim Jong Hak
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201400414
Subject(s) - materials science , dye sensitized solar cell , auxiliary electrode , electrode , cyclic voltammetry , substrate (aquarium) , scanning electron microscope , dielectric spectroscopy , tin oxide , nanotechnology , energy conversion efficiency , optoelectronics , sputtering , platinum , chemical engineering , thin film , electrochemistry , doping , composite material , electrolyte , chemistry , oceanography , biochemistry , engineering , geology , catalysis
A facile process to produce large‐area platinum (Pt) counter electrode platforms with well‐arrayed, mesh‐shaped nanopatterns using commercially available TiO 2 paste and poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) nanostamps is presented. The process involves mesh‐shaped (200 nm × 200 nm) nanopatterning of a TiO 2 scaffold onto a fluorine‐doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate, followed by Pt sputtering. The structure and morphology of the counter electrodes are characterized by a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE‐SEM) and an atomic force microscope (AFM). Solid‐state dye‐sensitized solar cells (ssDSSCs) fabricated with these mesh‐shaped Pt counter electrodes showed an efficiency of 7.0%. This is one of the highest efficiencies observed for N719 dye and is much higher than that of devices with non‐patterned, thermally deposited electrodes (5.4%) or non‐patterned, sputtering deposited electrodes (5.7%). This improvement is attributed to enhanced light harvesting and a greater surface area and has been confirmed by incident photon‐to current efficiency (IPCE), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements.