Poly(o-methoxyaniline) doped with an organic acid as cost-efficient counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

In this study, the conductive polymer poly(o-methoxyaniline) (POMA) was doped with an organic acid, 1S-(+)-camphorsulfonic acid (CSA), and used to fabricate counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The effects of POMA doped with various weight ratios of CSA on the efficiency of DSSCs were investigated. The properties of the POMA and POMA-CSA electrodes were comprehensively analyzed. The POMA-CSA electrodes exhibited increased surface roughness, increased crystallinity, and decreased impedance. The characteristics of DSSCs based on POMA-CSA electrodes were analyzed using photocurrent density-voltage, incident monochromatic photon-to-current conversion efficiency, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The experimental results revealed that the POMA-CSA(16%) electrodes exhibited the optimal electrode characteristics. The DSSC based on POMA-CSA(16%) counter electrodes reached an efficiency of 8.76%, which was higher than that of DSSCs with platinum counter electrodes.