Preparation of carbon nanotube/TiO2 mesoporous hybrid photoanode with iron pyrite (FeS2) thin films counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cell

Bayram Kilic*, Sunay Turkdogan, Aykut Astam, Oguz Can Ozer, Mansur Asgin, Hulya Cebeci, Deniz Urk, Selin Pravadili Mucur

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

51 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/TiO2 mesoporous networks can be employed as a new alternative photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). By using the MWCNT/TiO2 mesoporous as photoanodes in DSSC, we demonstrate that the MWCNT/TiO2 mesoporous photoanode is promising alternative to standard FTO/TiO2 mesoporous based DSSC due to larger specific surface area and high electrochemical activity. We also show that iron pyrite (FeS2) thin films can be used as an efficient counter electrode (CE), an alternative to the conventional high cost Pt based CE. We are able to synthesis FeS 2 nanostructures utilizing a very cheap and easy hydrothermal growth route. MWCNT/TiO2 mesoporous based DSSCs with FeS2 CE achieved a high solar conversion efficiency of 7.27% under 100 mW cm-2 (AM 1.5G 1-Sun) simulated solar irradiance which is considerably (slightly) higher than that of A-CNT/TiO2 mesoporous based DSSCs with Pt CE. Outstanding performance of the FeS2 CE makes it a very promising choice among the various CE materials used in the conventional DSSC and it is expected to be used more often to achieve higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiencies.

Original languageEnglish
Article number27052
JournalScientific Reports
Volume6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 May 2016

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Preparation of carbon nanotube/TiO2 mesoporous hybrid photoanode with iron pyrite (FeS2) thin films counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cell'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this