Butt Mira Tul Zubaida, Preuss Kathrin, Titirici Maria-Magdalena, Rehman Habib Ur, Briscoe Joe
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Opposite Sector U, DHA, Lahore 54792, Pakistan.
School of Engineering and Materials Science and Materials Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK.
Materials (Basel). 2018 Jul 9;11(7):1171. doi: 10.3390/ma11071171.
Dye sensitized solar cells have emerged as an attractive alternative to conventional solar cells due to their easy processing and the abundance and low cost of their materials. However, the counter electrode in these cells employs platinum which significantly impacts their cost. Here, we report biomass-derived, nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel as an effective alternative to conventional platinum-based counter electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells. A stable suspension of biomass-derived, nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel was prepared in DMF by using oleylamine as a binder. The nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel electrode was annealed at different temperatures, and its impact on photovoltaic performance is investigated. I-V measurements confirm that the annealing temperature substantially enhances the photovoltaic parameters of these devices; these enhancements are linked to the removal of the organic binders. Electrochemical impedance spectra of the counter electrodes confirm that removal of oleylamine in nitrogen-doped carbon aerogels reduces the series resistance of the resulting electrodes. The power conversion efficiency of the solar cells from optimized nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel exhibited comparable efficiency to that of a cell fabricated using a platinum-based counter electrode. This study demonstrates the potential of biomass-derived carbon aerogels as a cheap and sustainable replacement of platinum in DSSCs.
染料敏化太阳能电池因其易于加工以及材料丰富且成本低廉，已成为传统太阳能电池颇具吸引力的替代方案。然而，这些电池中的对电极使用铂，这显著影响了它们的成本。在此，我们报道了生物质衍生的氮掺杂碳气凝胶，作为染料敏化太阳能电池传统铂基对电极的有效替代物。通过使用油胺作为粘合剂，在二甲基甲酰胺中制备了生物质衍生的氮掺杂碳气凝胶的稳定悬浮液。对氮掺杂碳气凝胶电极在不同温度下进行退火，并研究其对光伏性能的影响。电流 - 电压测量证实，退火温度显著提高了这些器件的光伏参数；这些增强与有机粘合剂的去除有关。对电极的电化学阻抗谱证实，氮掺杂碳气凝胶中油胺的去除降低了所得电极的串联电阻。由优化的氮掺杂碳气凝胶制成的太阳能电池的功率转换效率与使用铂基对电极制造的电池相当。这项研究证明了生物质衍生的碳气凝胶作为染料敏化太阳能电池中铂的廉价且可持续替代品的潜力。
