Effect of nature of polymer as a binder in making photoanode layer and its influence on the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

A simple method has been developed for the preparation of photoanode paste from hydrothermally synthesized nanocomposite, using different nature of polymers viz., synthetic: poly(vinyl alcohol) and polystyrene (PS) and natural: casein and sodium alginate (NaAlg) as binders. The titanium dioxide (TiO2)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposite powder and film were characterized for analysis of their structure, crystallinity and morphology by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using TiO2/MWCNT composite paste made with different binders as photoanode, N719 dye, platinum as photocathode and Idolyte HI-30. The observed results of photocurrent density–voltage characteristics and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy suggested that the nature of the binder used in making photoanode film showed significant influence on the overall characteristics of DSSCs. Among the cells fabricated, the DSSC fabricated using TiO2/MWCNT-PS binder showed highest power conversion efficiency of 3.03%.