Gold nanoparticle decorated carbon nanotube nanocomposite for dye-sensitized solar cell performance and stability enhancement

Abstract

• AuNP/MWCNT inlaid mesoporous TiO 2 films are fabricated as photoanodes for DSSCs. • An enhancement of ~31% in PCE is achieved by using AuNP/MWCNT nanocomposite. • AuNP/MWCNT increases the PCE of the DSSC with a thin anode. • The developed nanocomposite is able to significantly improve the long-term stability of DSSCs. Improving the conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) requires enhancing the photogeneration of charge carriers as well as facilitating their transport to electrodes before charge recombination or quenching can occur. Here we describe a simple, fast and large-area scalable procedure for the preparation of a nanocomposite made of functional gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to improve the performance of DSSCs. We fabricated AuNP/MWCNT inlaid mesoporous TiO 2 films as photoanodes in DSSCs, to improve crucial factors including light absorption, charge-carrier generation, collection and transport. By using a AuNP/MWCNT nanocomposite directly inlaid in TiO 2 as the working electrode, a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.61% and short-circuit photocurrent density ( J sc ) of 12.26 mA cm −2 were obtained, representing an enhancement of ~31% in PCE and ~19% in J sc compared to a control cell based on TiO 2 alone. In addition, DSSCs based on the TiO 2 /AuNP/MWCNT photoanode remained remarkably stable compared with the control device, retaining 92% of the initial PCE value after ten days of continuous illumination.