Fabrication of Dye Sensitized Solar Cells with Spray Coated Carbon Nano Tube (CNT) Based Counter Electrodes

In this paper, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) have been fabricated on fluorine-tin-oxide (FTO) glass substrates, in which TiO2 electrodes have been printed and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) counter electrodes have been spray-coated. Ruthenium based dye (C58H86N8O8RuS2) has been used as photosensitizer, and the cell was constructed by stacking the dye-sensitized TiO2 on CNT counter electrodes using Surlyn sheet of 50 μm thick as a spacer. The electrolyte containing I-/I3- redox couple was then injected into the cell structure before the spacer was sealed and heat pressed. From the study of the cell I-V characteristics, it showed that that the light energy conversion efficiency increased with decreasing light transmittance and sheet resistances of the CNT counter electrodes, and is lower compared to efficiency from similar cells Pt counter electrodes.