Oxygen enriched PAni-based counter electrode network toward efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Renewable Energy
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) offer a sustainable alternative for renewable energy.
• Low-cost, platinum-free counter-electrodes (CEs) are crucial for high-performance DSSCs.
• Oxygen plasma ion doping is explored to enhance CE properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of oxygen plasma ion doping on PAni-ZnO (PZ) composite CEs.
• To optimize the physiochemical and microstructural features of PZ CEs for improved DSSC performance.
• To understand the mechanism behind efficiency enhancement through plasma treatment.

Main Methods:

• Novel PAni-ZnO (PZ) composite layers were synthesized as CE materials.
• In-situ oxygen plasma dosages (0-10 min) were applied to the PZ composites.
• Comprehensive characterization included microstructural analysis, porosity, morphology, contact angle, roughness, electrical, optical, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests, alongside J-V measurements.

Main Results:

• Surface properties, including pore size and roughness, improved with increasing plasma treatment, optimizing at 8 min.
• Photovoltaic cell performance significantly enhanced, with an optimal efficiency of 6.31% and Jsc of 15.6 mA/cm² achieved after 8 min of plasma modification.
• The optimized efficiency represents a 77% increase compared to the pristine CE, attributed to improved charge carrier mobility and reduced recombination.

Conclusions:

• Oxygen plasma doping is an effective strategy to enhance the performance of low-cost, platinum-free CE materials for DSSCs.
• Optimized plasma treatment creates continuous channels for rapid electron transport, boosting photovoltaic efficiency.
• This study provides a new perspective for developing advanced heteroatom-doped CEs for efficient DSSCs.