Preparation of titanium dioxide-double-walled carbon nanotubes and its application in flexible dye-sensitized solar cells

doi:10.1007/s12200-012-0198-5

Front Optoelec

2012, Vol. 5

Issue (2) : 224-230 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-012-0198-5

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Preparation of titanium dioxide-double-walled carbon nanotubes and its application in flexible dye-sensitized solar cells

Cunxi CHENG, Jihuai WU(

), Yaoming XIAO, Yuan CHEN, Haijun YU, Ziying TANG, Jianming LIN, Miaoliang HUANG

Engineering Research Center of Environment-Friendly Functional Materials, Ministry of Education; Institute of Materials Physical Chemistry, Huaqiao University, Quanzhou 362021, China

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Abstract

Titanium dioxide-double-walled carbon nanotubes (TiO₂-DWCNTs) with DWCNTs/TiO₂ of 20 wt.% is prepared by a conventional sol-gel method. Doping the TiO₂-DWCNTs in TiO₂ photoanode, a flexible dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is fabricated. The sample is characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) absorption, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) absorption spectra,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique and photovoltaic measurement. It is found that adding a certain amount of TiO₂-DWCNTs can efficiently decrease the resistance of charge transport, improve dye adsorption. Under an optimal condition, a flexible DSSC contained with 0.50 wt.% TiO₂-DWCNTs achieves a light-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of 3.89% under a simulate solar light irradiation of 100 mW·cm^-2.

Keywords flexible dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) titanium dioxide (TiO₂) double-walled carbon nanotube (DWCNT) sol-gel method

Corresponding Author(s): WU Jihuai,Email:jhwu@hqu.edu.cn

Issue Date: 05 June 2012

Cite this article:

Yaoming XIAO,Yuan CHEN,Haijun YU, et al. Preparation of titanium dioxide-double-walled carbon nanotubes and its application in flexible dye-sensitized solar cells[J]. Front Optoelec, 2012, 5(2): 224-230.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/10.1007/s12200-012-0198-5
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/Y2012/V5/I2/224

Fig.1 Schematic view of (a) synthetic process of TiO-DWCNTs nanocomposites; (b) flexible DSSC

Fig.2 SEM images of (a) TiO nanoparticles; (b) oxidized DWCNTs; (c) and (d) DWCNTs covered with TiOnanoparticles ; (e) and (f) TiO film covered with 0.50 wt.% TiO-DWCNTs

Fig.3 XRD patterns of TiO (a) and TiO-DWCNT (b) nanopowder

Fig.4 FTIR spectra of (a) pristine DWCNTs; (b) TiO nanoparticles; (c) TiO-DWCNTs nanocomposites and (d) oxidized DWCNTs

Fig.5 Absorption spectra of dye desorbed fromTiO ?lms contained different amount of TiO-DWCNTs

Tab.1 Photovoltaic performance of flexible DSSCs with different TiO-DWCNTs contents

Fig.6 Dark current curves for the flexible DSSCs

Fig.7 Electrochemical impedance spectra of the DSSCs with different TiO-DWCNTs contents

Fig.8 Current-voltage curves for the flexible DSSCs

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