Abstract
A post heat treatment is developed to improve the "two-step dip coating process" in which poly-N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (PVP)-capped Pt nanoclusters are deposited with the aid of appropriate conditioner on transparent conductive oxide (TCO) glass as counterelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Charge transfer resistance (R CT ) is found only 0.56 ω-cm 2 for this annealed counterelectrode. The improvement of R CT is attributed to the removal of conditioner by the post heat treatment at 270 °C, which enhances the electrical contact between the Pt nanoclusters and the TCO glass, and thereby accelerates the charge transfer. The DSSC employing this annealed counterelectrode achieves a high energy conversion efficiency over 8%. © 2011 by ESG.