Efficient dye-sensitized solar cells with catalytic multiwall carbon nanotube counter electrodes

We report the successful application of multiwall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as electrocatalysts for triiodide reduction in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Defect-rich edge planes of bamboolike-structure multiwall CNTs facilitate the electron-transfer kinetics at the counter electrode-electrolyte interface, resulting in low charge-transfer resistance and an improved fill factor. In combination with a dye-sensitized TiO2 photoanode and an organic liquid electrolyte, a multiwall CNT counter-electrode DSSC shows 7.7% energy conversion efficiency under 1 sun illumination (100 mW/cm(2), air mass 1.5 G). The short-term stability test at moderate conditions confirms the robustness of CNT counter-electrode DSSCs.