James Sagil, Contractor Rinkesh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, 92831, USA.
Sci Rep. 2018 Nov 19;8(1):17032. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35388-2.
Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) are third generation solar cells used as an alternative to traditional silicon solar cells. DSSCs are characterized by their durability, easy handling and ability to perform better under diverse lighting conditions which makes them an ideal choice for indoor applications. However, DSSCs suffer from several limitations including low efficiencies, susceptibility to electrolyte leakage under extreme weather conditions, and the need for expensive materials and fabrication techniques which limits their large-scale industrial applications. Addressing these limitations through efficient design and manufacturing techniques are critical in ensuring that the DSSCs transform from the current small-scale laboratory levels to sizeable industrial production. This research attempts to address some of these significant limitations by introducing the concepts of nature-inspired fractal-based design followed by the additive manufacturing process to fabricate cost-effective, flexible counter electrodes for DSSCs. The new conceptual fractal-based design counter electrodes overcome the limitations of conventional planar designs by significantly increasing the number of active reaction sites which enhances the catalytic activity thereby improving the performance. The fabrication of these innovative fractal designs is realized through cost-effective manufacturing techniques including additive manufacturing and selective electrochemical co-deposition processes. The results of the study suggest that the fractal-based counter electrodes perform better than conventional designs. Additionally, the fractal designs and additive manufacturing technology help in addressing the problems of electrolyte leakage, cost of fabrication, and scalability of DSSCs.
染料敏化太阳能电池（DSSC）是第三代太阳能电池，用作传统硅太阳能电池的替代品。DSSC的特点是耐用、易于操作，并且在各种光照条件下表现更好，这使其成为室内应用的理想选择。然而，DSSC存在一些局限性，包括效率低、在极端天气条件下易发生电解质泄漏，以及需要昂贵的材料和制造技术，这限制了它们的大规模工业应用。通过高效的设计和制造技术解决这些局限性对于确保DSSC从当前的小规模实验室水平转变为大规模工业生产至关重要。本研究试图通过引入受自然启发的基于分形的设计概念，然后采用增材制造工艺来制造具有成本效益的、用于DSSC的柔性对电极，以解决其中一些重大局限性。新的基于分形的概念性设计对电极通过显著增加活性反应位点的数量克服了传统平面设计的局限性，从而增强了催化活性，进而提高了性能。这些创新的分形设计的制造是通过具有成本效益的制造技术实现的，包括增材制造和选择性电化学共沉积工艺。研究结果表明，基于分形的对电极比传统设计表现更好。此外，分形设计和增材制造技术有助于解决DSSC的电解质泄漏、制造成本和可扩展性问题。
