Sub-micrometer-sized graphite as a conducting and catalytic counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

Sub-micrometer-sized colloidal graphite (CG) was tested as a conducting electrode to replace transparent conducting oxide (TCO) electrodes and as a catalytic material to replace platinum (Pt) for I(3)(-) reduction in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). CG paste was used to make a film via the doctor-blade process. The 9 μm thick CG film showed a lower resistivity (7 Ω/◻) than the widely used fluorine-doped tin oxide TCO (8-15 Ω/◻). The catalytic activity of this graphite film was measured and compared with the corresponding properties of Pt. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies clearly showed a decrease in the charge transfer resistance with the increase in the thickness of the graphite layer from 3 to 9 μm. Under 1 sun illumination (100 mW cm(-2), AM 1.5), DSSCs with submicrometer-sized graphite as a catalyst on fluorine-doped tin oxide TCO showed an energy conversion efficiency greater than 6.0%, comparable to the conversion efficiency of Pt. DSSCs with a graphite counter electrode (CE) on TCO-free bare glass showed an energy conversion efficiency greater than 5.0%, which demonstrated that the graphite layer could be used both as a conducting layer and as a catalytic layer.