Abstract
Tellurium-doped, mesoporous carbon nanomaterials with a relatively high doping level were prepared by a simple stabilization and carbonization method in the presence of a tellurium metalloid. A transparent counter electrode (CE) was prepared using tellurium-doped, mesoporous carbon (TeMC) materials, and was directly applied to bifacial, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). To improve the performance of the bifacial DSSC device, CEs should have outstanding electrocatalytic activity, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical stability, as well as high transparency. In this study, to make transparent electrodes with outstanding electrocatalytic activity and electrical conductivity, various TeMC materials with different carbonization temperatures were prepared by simple pyrolysis of the polyacrylonitrile-block-poly (n-butyl acrylate) (PAN-b-PBA) block copolymer in the presence of the tellurium metalloid. The electrocatalytic activity of the prepared TeMC materials were evaluated through a dummy cell test, and the material with the best catalytic ability was selected and optimized for application in bifacial DSSC devices by controlling the film thickness of the CE. As a result, the bifacial DSSC devices with the TeMC CE exhibited high power conversion efficiencies (PCE), i.e., 9.43% and 8.06% under front and rear side irradiation, respectively, which are the highest values reported for bifacial DSSCs to date. Based on these results, newly-developed transparent, carbon-based electrodes may lead to more stable and effective bifacial DSSC development without sacrificing the photovoltaic performance of the DSSC device.
Highlights
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which can directly convert solar energy into electrical energy, are seen as promising energy conversion devices due to their high power conversion efficiency (PCE), easy fabrication process, and environmentally-friendly nature [1,2,3,4]
Carbon materials are used in many fields, such as DSSCs [24,25], fuel cells [26], supercapacitors [27], batteries [28], and sensors [29], because of their high electrical conductivity, high specific surface area, and low cost
The counter electrode (CE) should have the following characteristics for use in bifacial DSSCs: (i) high electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of oxidized redox couples compared with Pt-based CEs, (ii) high electrical conductivity for the transfer of electrons from the external circuit to the electrode surface, (iii) high transmittance to improve the performance of rear-side irradiation, and (iv) high electrochemical stability for industrial applications [31,32,33]
Summary
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which can directly convert solar energy into electrical energy, are seen as promising energy conversion devices due to their high power conversion efficiency (PCE), easy fabrication process, and environmentally-friendly nature [1,2,3,4] In addition to these advantages, DSSCs have favorable characteristics such as their color and transparency, as well as their efficiency under ambient light conditions (i.e., for indoor operation) [5]. The CE should have the following characteristics for use in bifacial DSSCs: (i) high electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of oxidized redox couples compared with Pt-based CEs, (ii) high electrical conductivity for the transfer of electrons from the external circuit to the electrode surface, (iii) high transmittance to improve the performance of rear-side irradiation, and (iv) high electrochemical stability for industrial applications [31,32,33]. The optimized TeMC CE had excellent electrocatalytic activity, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical stability, as well as high transmittance, and it showed excellent performance when applied to the bifacial DSSC device
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