Counter Electrode in Polymer‐Electrolyte‐Based DSSC: Platinum Versus Electrodeposited MnO2

Abstract

AbstractManganese oxide have been successfully electrodeposited on fluorine‐doped tin oxide glass electrodes via a facile, green, and energy‐efficient electrodeposition technique, which is used as counter electrode in a dye‐sensitized solar cell using polyethylene‐oxide‐based solid polymer electrolyte. X‐ray diffraction, energy dispersive X‐ray, and scanning electron microscopy are used to study the structure, elemental composition, and surface morphology of the electrodeposited electrode. The electrochemical performance of the electrode is studied by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Performance of the cells is investigated by photocurrent–voltage characteristics using an input power (Pin) of 100 mW cm−2. The short‐circuit current density (Jsc) is 0.22 mA cm−2, open‐circuit voltage (Voc) is 0.76 V, fill factor (FF) is 0.5, and power conversion efficiency (η) is 0.08%. Further, a comparison with the conventional platinum (Pt) counter electrode is made and presented in this paper.