Electrochemical pulsed deposition of platinum nanoparticles on indium tin oxide/polyethylene terephthalate as a flexible counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

• We used indium tin oxide/polyethylene terephthalate as a flexible substrate.
• We utilized pulse electrochemical deposition to deposit platinum nanoparticles.
• We synthesized a flexible counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC).
• The power conversion efficiency of DSSC was measured to be 4.3%.

In this study, a pulsed-mode electrochemical deposition (Pulse-ECD) technique was employed to deposit platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) on the indium tin oxide/polyethylene terephthalate (ITO/PET) substrate as a flexible counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The characteristic properties of the Pulse-ECD PtNPs were prepared and compared to the traditional (electron beam) Pt film. The surface morphologies of the PtNPs were examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and the atomic force microscope (AFM). The FE-SEM results showed that our PtNPs were deposited uniformly on the ITO/PET flexible substrates via the Pulse-ECD technique. The AFM results indicated that the surface roughness of the pulsed PtNPs influenced the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of DSSCs, due to the high specific surface area of PtNPs which enhanced the catalytic activities for the reduction (I3− to I−) of redox electrolyte. In combination with a N719 dye-sensitized TiO2 working electrode and an iodine-based electrolyte, the DSSCs with the PtNPs flexible counter electrode showed a PCE of 4.3% under the illumination of AM 1.5 (100 mW cm− 2). The results demonstrated that the Pulse-ECD PtNPs are good candidate for flexible DSSCs.