ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Preparation of polypyrrole/multi-walled carbon nanotube hybrids by electropolymerization combined with a coating method for counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells

Jaroslav Kuliček, Pavol Gemeiner, Mária Omastová, and Matej Mičušík

Polymer Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia

E-mail: jaroslav.kulicek@savba.sk

Abstract: In this work, multi-wall carbon nanotubes coated with polypyrrole (PPy/MWCNT) have been used as counter electrode (CE) materials for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). PPy was deposited onto fluorine-doped tin-oxide-coated glass by electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole. Three surfactants were used in the preparation of the hybrids: cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, anionic sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (DBSNa), and non-ionic polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate (Tween20). The morphologies of the PPy and PPy/MWCNT hybrids were investigated using scanning electron spectroscopy. Chemical composition of the prepared CEs was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy. The catalytic activity of the PPy and PPy/MWCNT layers was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry, and the photovoltaic properties of DSSCs with PPy and PPy/MWCNT CEs were characterized using I–V measurements. PPy/MWCNT samples that were prepared by electrochemical polymerization showed the best results when the anionic surfactant DBSNa was used during polymerization. The photoelectric conversion efficiency of PPy/MWCNT prepared by electrochemical polymerization was 2.9%, which was 59% of that of Pt CE (4.9%).

Keywords: Dye-sensitized solar cell ; Counter electrode ; Polypyrrole ; Multi-walled carbon nanotubes ; Electrochemical deposition 

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-018-0476-9

Chemical Papers 72 (7) 1651–1667 (2018)