Pt Nanoparticles Supported on Polypyrrole Nanospheres as a Catalytic Counter Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Polypyrrole (PPy) nanospheres (similar to 80 nm) were synthesized chemically within micelles composed of tetradecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (TTAB),and. decyl alcohol. Highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles(similar to 3.2 nm) supported on PPy nanospheres (PPy Pt) were fabricated using a modified microwave assisted polyol process in the presence of ethylene glycol, a Pt precursor, and PPy nanospheres as supporting materials in an aqueous medium. PPy-Pt was used as a highly efficient catalytic counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The charge-transfer resistance (R(ct),) (14.9 Omega) of the PPy-Pt counter electrode was lower than that (19.1 Omega) of the conventional Pt counter electrode, indicating higher electrocatalytic activity. The DSSC using a PPy-Pt counter electrode with higher surface area and mesoporosity showed enhanced overall power conversion efficiency (8.6%) compared with that of the conventional Pt-based DSSC (8.1%), under 100 mW.cm(-2), AM 1.5 G sunlight illumination.