Enhancing photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells by using thermally decomposed mirror-like Pt-counter electrodes

This article presents the fabrication of a homogeneous mirror-like Pt-counter electrodes and its utilization in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The homogeneous Pt-counter electrodes were fabricated through modified thermal decomposition method by adding a suitable amount of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) in a high concentration of Pt precursor solution. The micro-morphology of prepared Pt-counter electrodes was compared with those prepared by traditional thermal decomposition and electrochemical deposition methods. The different preparation methods showed obvious influence on the micro-morphologies of Pt-counter electrodes, which further influence the catalytic activity for iodide/tri-iodide redox reaction and hence the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs. A remarkable enhancement in the photovoltaic performance of the DSSCs was achieved by the application of the prepared Pt-counter electrodes through the modified thermal decomposition method. Moreover, an obvious improvement in the reflectance properties of the prepared Pt-counter electrodes was observed, which plays an important contribution in the enhancement of the photovoltaic performance of the DSSCs.

► Pt mirror counter electrodes were prepared for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).
► The catalytic activity was influenced by the micro-morphology of Pt counter electrode.
► An improved DSSC performance was obtained with high reflectance Pt counter electrode.