Opaque Pt counter electrodes for dye‐sensitized solar cells
A. Atli, A. Yıldız
Abstract
An opaque platinum (Pt) film is deposited via the chemical bath method on an FTO substrate and assigned as a counter electrode (CE) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Optical properties opaque Pt film indicates the enhanced reflectivity compared to a conventional transparent Pt CE deposited by a spin coating method. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy manifests the opaque Pt CE has a smaller series and charge-transfer resistances than that of transparent Pt. Tafel and cyclic voltammetry results verify the superiority of opaque Pt CE considering excellent electrocatalytic activity toward redox couple. A mechanical stability test affirms the excellent adhesion properties of the opaque Pt CE on FTO substrates. As a consequence, DSSC having the opaque Pt CE delivers a high electrical power conversion efficiency of 5.06%, outperforming the cell with the transparent Pt CE (4.31%) under the same conditions. Prospectively, the design of a device with an opaque Pt CE can be extended to other optoelectronic applications, opening up the opportunities for a host of high-performance devices.