Low Cost TCO Less Counter Electrodes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Application

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel counter electrode material featuring a coating based on the incorporation of electrically conducting titanium nitride (TiN) particles into a polyimide (PI) matrix. The resulting hybrid system can be applied onto transparent substrates such as plain glass. The resulting composite coating is characterized with electrical conducting properties close to fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass, a transparent conductive material widely used as a substrate in the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). This study investigates the use of TiN/PI coatings as an alternative to FTO-coated glass for the preparation of DSC counter electrodes. Platinization of the counter electrodes, a critical step aimed at catalyzing the reduction of the I3 - into I- within the electrolyte, is applied according to different techniques. DSC devices prepared on TiN/PI-coated glass counter electrodes show similar photovoltaic performance to DSCs prepared on commercial FTO-coated glass.