Abstract
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have drawn great attention so far due to their low cost and easy fabrication. Considerable efforts have been made to improve the efficiency of the dye, electrolyte and the working electrode, but less attention has been paid to the counter electrode. Generally, platinum (Pt) is mostly applied as the material selection of counter electrode forming by thermal deposition H2PtCl6 solution or sputtering method. However, owing to the intrinsic limitation of noble metal, that is, rare amount which leads to high material price making a huge obstacle for mass production. Besides, low temperature demand for flexible substrates also restricts Pt based counter electrodes. Polyppyrole (PPy)[3], a promising conductive polymer, which is well-known as one of the pioneering polymeric materials to break the myth that polymers have no electrical conductivity. With the beneficial conductivity, low cost & easy fabrication process, and outstanding electrocatalytic activity for reducing I3- ions after doping treatment all indicate PPy a potential candidate to replace Pt as counter electrode in DSSC[4],[5],[6]. Besides, excellent substrate compatibility of PPy could broaden the availability of DSSC into flexible substrate and portable device application. In this research, PPy is deposited with the doping of anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid sodium salt (AQSA) by in-situ chemical deposition on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass (FTO) as counter electrode for DSSC in order to enhance the electrical conductivity and electrocatalytic activity of PPy. The excellent photoelectric properties, low cost & easy fabrication and substrate compatibility all allow AQSA-doped PPy formed electrode to be a promising alternative for DSSCs.