Abstract
In this study, a chemical oxidation method was employed to fabricate coral-like Cu2O nano/microstructures on Cu foils as counter electrodes (CEs) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The Cu2O nano/microstructures were prepared at various sintering temperatures (400, 500, 600 and 700 °C) to investigate the influences of the sintering temperature on the DSSC characteristics. First, the Cu foil substrates were immersed in an aqueous solution containing (NH4)2S2O8 and NaOH. After reacting at 25 °C for 30 min, the Cu substrates were converted to Cu(OH)2 nanostructures. Subsequently, the nanostructures were subjected to nitrogen sintering, leading to Cu(OH)2 being dehydrated into CuO, which was then deoxidized to form coral-like Cu2O nano/microstructures. The material properties of the Cu2O CEs were comprehensively determined using a scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer, Raman spectrometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscope, and cyclic voltameter. The Cu2O CEs sintered at various temperatures were used in DSSC devices and analyzed according to the current density–voltage characteristics, incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency, and electrochemical impedance characteristics. The Cu2O CEs sintered at 600 °C exhibited the optimal electrode properties and DSSC performance, yielding a power conversion efficiency of 3.62%. The Cu2O CEs fabricated on Cu foil were generally mechanically flexible and could therefore be applied to flexible DSSCs.
Highlights
Solar cell research is receiving an increasing amount of attention from academia and various governments in response to recent discussions on energy shortages and global environmental pollution.In 1991, Grätzel et al [1] used high-surface-area TiO2 nanoparticles to develop a novel type of solar cell called the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC)
Compared with conventional Si-based solar cells and thin-film solar cells, DSSCs are advantageous because of their simple structure, easy fabrication process, and low cost; they promptly attracted the interest of the scientific community [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
counter electrodes (CEs) were obtained from the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of the electrochemical properties of the Cu2O CEs were obtained from the electrochemical impedance symmetrical structures.sandwich
Summary
Solar cell research is receiving an increasing amount of attention from academia and various governments in response to recent discussions on energy shortages and global environmental pollution. Cu2 O is a direct-energy gap p-type semiconductor with a band gap of approximately 2.0 eV This compound has received considerable attention for application in photovoltaic devices because it offers several advantages such as its low cost, nontoxic nature, and abundant supply [30,31,32]. It exhibits excellent optical absorption in the visible spectrum, can be deposited on thin films by using various coating methods, and can be fabricated using simple and economical processes. CEs fabricated at various sintering temperatures were characterized, and subsequently, the influence of the sintering temperature on the DSSC efficiency was determined
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