A Flexible plastic-stainless steel dye-sensitized solar cell based on organic T−/T2 electrolyte

SUMMARY Flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using a TiO2 film coated on stainless steel (TiO2/SS) as the working electrode and a Pt film coated on conductive plastic (Pt/plastic) as the counter electrode. Thin Pt film was deposited on conductive plastic specimens for four different deposition times (30, 60, 90 and 120 s) using an electrochemical deposition process. Scanning electron micrographs of the resulting Pt films showed that Pt nanoparticles formed on conductive plastic. The DSSC characteristics were analyzed by illuminating light on the counter electrode. The performance of the cell with 30 s of Pt deposition (30 s-Pt) showed the highest DSSC efficiency, ~2.72%. Cell efficiency decreased with the duration of Pt deposition (or Pt thickness). This is attributed to the reduced transmittance through the thicker Pt films, which is supported by UV-visible spectroscopic measurements. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.