Bifacial dye-sensitized solar cells from covalent-bonded polyaniline–multiwalled carbon nanotube complex counter electrodes

Abstract

Exploration of cost-effective counter electrodes (CEs) and enhancement of power conversion efficiency have been two persistent objectives for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In the current work, polyaniline–multiwalled carbon nanotube (PANi–MWCNT) complexes are synthesized by a reflux method and employed as CE materials for bifacial DSSCs. Owing to the high optical transparency of PANi–MWCNT complex CE, the incident light from rear side can compensate for the incident light from TiO2 anode. The charge-transfer ability and electrochemical behaviors demonstrate the potential utilization of PANi–MWCNT complex CEs in robust bifacial DSSCs. The electrochemical properties as well as photovoltaic performances are optimized by adjusting MWCNT dosages. A maximum power conversion efficiency of 9.24% is recorded from the bifacial DSSC employing PANi–8 wt‰ MWCNT complex CE for both irradiation, which is better than 8.08% from pure PANi CE.