Flexible dye-sensitized solar cells based on Ti/TiO2 nanotubes photoanode and Pt-free and TCO-free counter electrode system

Flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are getting more attention compared to standard glass covered DSSCs due to their unique commercial applications (e.g. tents or sail surfaces) and the possibility of rolling up into a small, portable device. In this work, titania nanotubes (TiO2 NT) modified with titania nanoparticles (TiO2 NP) were photoelectrochemically characterized as an anode for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells. The morphology of the prepared electrode materials was inspected using scanning electron microscopy. Electrochemical activity of titania in contact with anaqueous electrolyte containing iodine species was investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and chronoamperometry (CA). The anode with deposited TiO2 NP exhibits enhanced efficiency of photocurrent generation in comparison to pure titania NT. The new type of comb-shaped Ti electrode with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(2-styrenesulphonate) (pEDOT:PSS) layer deposited onto the PET foil substrate was proposed as a counter electrode and compared with a conventional Pt catalytic layer as well as with a typical Pt/FTO counter electrode. Overall photoconversion efficiency of pEDOT-based counter-electrode DSSC reached 0.61% and was almost 40% higher than for counter electrode with Pt.