Electrochemical analysis of dye adsorption on aligned carbon nanofiber arrays coated with TiO<sub>2</sub> nanoneedles for dye-sensitized solar cell

doi:10.1007/s12200-011-0154-9

Front Optoelec Chin

2011, Vol. 4

Issue (1) : 53-58 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-011-0154-9

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Electrochemical analysis of dye adsorption on aligned carbon nanofiber arrays coated with TiO₂ nanoneedles for dye-sensitized solar cell

Jianwei LIU^1,2(

), Jun LI²(

)

1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA; 2. Department of Chemistry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506-3701, USA

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Abstract

An electrochemical method has been developed to analyze dye absorption on the aligned carbon nanofiber arrays coated with TiO₂ nanoneedles for dye-sensitized solar cell. The unique nanostructure with the roughness factor of 90.6 provides a large effective surface area for dye adsorption. The experimental results showed that the dye molecules cover 39.7% of the TiO₂ surface area which influences the performance of dye-sensitized solar cell. The electrochemical method provides the information of the coverage of dye molecules which is a key issue to optimize solar cell performance.

Keywords electrochemical analysis aligned carbon nanofibers dye adsorption solar cell

Corresponding Author(s): LIU Jianwei,Email:liuw@ku.edu; LI Jun,Email:junli@ksu.edu

Issue Date: 05 March 2011

Cite this article:

Jianwei LIU,Jun LI. Electrochemical analysis of dye adsorption on aligned carbon nanofiber arrays coated with TiO₂ nanoneedles for dye-sensitized solar cell[J]. Front Optoelec Chin, 2011, 4(1): 53-58.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/10.1007/s12200-011-0154-9
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/Y2011/V4/I1/53

Fig.1 Molecular structure of N719 dye and CV measurement in 0.1 mM Dye & 0.1 M LiClO4 acetonitrile solution taken with a scan rate of 50 mV/s using a platinum coil as a counter electrode, a Ag/AgCl(sat’d KCl) reference electrode, and a glassy carbon working electrode

Fig.2 (a) SEM image at 45° perspective view of a vertically aligned carbon nanofiber array; (b) vertically aligned carbon nanofiber array coated with anatase TiO nanoneedles

Fig.3 (a) CV measurement in 0.1 M LiClO acetonitrile solution taken with a scan rate of 50 mV/s using a platinum coil as a counter electrode, a Ag/AgCl(sat’d KCl) reference electrode, the vertically aligned carbon nanofiber array coated with anatase TiO nanoneedles as the working electrode; (b) dye N719 absorption on the surface of vertically aligned carbon nanofiber array coated with anatase TiO nanoneedles as the working electrode

Fig.4 (a) CV measurement in 0.1 M LiClO acetonitrile solution taken with a scan rate of 50 mV/s using a platinum coil as a counter electrode, a Ag/AgCl (sat’d KCl) reference electrode, the vertically aligned carbon nanofiber array coated with anatase TiO nanoneedles as the working electrode (blue line), dye N719 absorption on the surface of vertically aligned carbon nanofiber array coated with anatase TiO nanoneedles as the working electrode (red line); (b) CV measurement in 0.1 M LiClO acetonitrile solution taken with a scan rate of 50 mV/s, the vertically aligned carbon nanofiber array coated with anatase TiO nanoneedles as the working electrode (blue line), the vertically aligned carbon nanofiber array (black line); a glassy carbon working electrode (red line)

Fig.5 (a) Current-time plot of forward curve of a cyclic voltammogram with dye N719 adsorbed on surface of a vertically aligned carbon nanofiber array coated with anatase TiO nanoneedles as working electrode; (b) same plot after baseline fitting and subtraction from (a)

Fig.6 Carbon nanofiber coated with TiO nanoneedles

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