Carboxylic acid-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes-polyindole/Ti2O3: A novel hybrid nanocomposite as highly efficient photo-anode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)

Abstract

Herein, we are reporting carboxylic acid-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes-polyindole/Ti2O3 hybrid nanocomposite (f-MWCNTs-PIN/Ti2O3) synthesis, phase structure and morphology studies with extended applications. FE-SEM, and TGA results shows that the hybrid nanocomposite having good thermal stability. This hybrid nanocomposite is utilized to prepare a photo-anode of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Interestingly, the doped with TiO2 (f-MWCNTs-PIN/Ti2O3/TiO2) hybrid nanocomposite based photo-anode for DSSC reported power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.6% and it is about 6% higher than that of un-doped TiO2 photo-anode. The corresponding short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc) of 18.30mAcm−2, open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.71V, fill factor (FF) of 0.66, and dye absorption amount is 0.16×10−6molcm−2 respectively. The obtained results suggest that the hybrid nanocomposite is a suitable photo-anodic material for DSSCs applications.