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Electrospun TiO2-MWCNTs nanofibers as photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC)

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Abstract

Electrospinning process was used to fabricate hybrid TiO2 nanofibrous membrane containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The MWCNTs treated with plasma modification as established in our previous studies are dispersed in the mixture of titanium (IV) isopropoxide and poly(methyl methacrylate) in N,N-dimethylformamide prior to electrospinning. Diameter of the calcined TiO2-MWCNTs nanofibers (NFs) ranged from 100 to 200 nm, and transmission electron microscopy shows that the MWCNTs are both embedded and lying externally on the NFs. Photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells are prepared by first conglutinating the nanofibrous membranes onto conducting glass substrate under methanol vapor treatment followed by calcination and dye sensitization. The NFs exhibit improved conducting behavior (from 10−8 to 10−6 S/m) with small quantity (0.5–1.5 wt%) of MWCNTs. An optimum addition of 1.0 wt% MWCNTs into the TiO2 nanofibrous membrane improves the overall solar conversion efficiency by 47 % with significant increase in the short-circuit photocurrent. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and intensity-modulated photocurrent/photovoltage spectroscopy analyses reveal that the enhanced electron transport with smaller resistance is responsible for the improved cell performance. The results suggest that the conducting properties of the MWCNTs are crucial for faster transport of photogenerated electrons, hence retarding charge recombination that could result in poor conversion efficiency.

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Acknowledgements

This research is financially supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC100-313-E-024-001-CCS and NSC 101-3113-E-024-001-CC2), and the Center for Energy Technology and Strategy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, 70101, Tainan, Taiwan

    Y. F. Chan & C. Y. Chen

  2. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Southern Taiwan University, 71001, Tainan, Taiwan

    C. C. Wang

  3. Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, National Cheng Kung University, 70101, Tainan, Taiwan

    C. Y. Chen

Authors
  1. Y. F. Chan
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  2. C. C. Wang
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  3. C. Y. Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. Y. Chen.

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10853_2013_7317_MOESM1_ESM.doc

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 620 kb) XRD patterns for NFs of pristine TiO2 and 1.5 wt% TiO2-MWCNTs after calcination at 400 and 500 °C

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Chan, Y.F., Wang, C.C. & Chen, C.Y. Electrospun TiO2-MWCNTs nanofibers as photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). J Mater Sci 48, 5261–5272 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7317-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7317-6

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