TY - JOUR
T1 - Atomic layer deposition of highly transparent platinum counter electrodes for metal/polymer flexible dye-sensitized solar cells
AU - Garcia - Alonso, D.
AU - Zardetto, V.
AU - Mackus, A.J.M.
AU - Rossi, De, F.
AU - Verheijen, M.A.
AU - Brown, T.M.
AU - Kessels, W.M.M.
AU - Creatore, M.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is used to deposit Pt nanoparticles at low temperature (25–150 °C) to fabricate highly transparent counter electrodes (CEs) for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The Pt nanoparticles (NPs) are deposited for different number of ALD cycles on indium tin oxide (ITO)/polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrates. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are used to assess the Pt NP loading, density, and size. There is a trade-off between transparency and catalytic activity of the CE, and the best cell performances of back-side-illuminated DSCs (˜3.7% efficiency) are achieved for Pt ALD at temperatures in the range of 100–150 °C, even though deposition at 25 °C is also viable. The best cell produced with ALD platinized CE (100 cycles at 100 °C) outperforms the reference cells fabricated with electrodeposited and sputtered Pt CEs, with relative improvements in efficiency of 19% and 29%, respectively. In addition, these parameters are used to fabricate a large area CE for a sub-module (active area of 17.6 cm2), resulting in an efficiency of 3.1%, which demonstrates the scalability of the process.
AB - Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is used to deposit Pt nanoparticles at low temperature (25–150 °C) to fabricate highly transparent counter electrodes (CEs) for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The Pt nanoparticles (NPs) are deposited for different number of ALD cycles on indium tin oxide (ITO)/polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrates. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are used to assess the Pt NP loading, density, and size. There is a trade-off between transparency and catalytic activity of the CE, and the best cell performances of back-side-illuminated DSCs (˜3.7% efficiency) are achieved for Pt ALD at temperatures in the range of 100–150 °C, even though deposition at 25 °C is also viable. The best cell produced with ALD platinized CE (100 cycles at 100 °C) outperforms the reference cells fabricated with electrodeposited and sputtered Pt CEs, with relative improvements in efficiency of 19% and 29%, respectively. In addition, these parameters are used to fabricate a large area CE for a sub-module (active area of 17.6 cm2), resulting in an efficiency of 3.1%, which demonstrates the scalability of the process.
U2 - 10.1002/aenm.201300831
DO - 10.1002/aenm.201300831
M3 - Article
SN - 1614-6832
VL - 4
SP - 1300831-1/8
JO - Advanced Energy Materials
JF - Advanced Energy Materials
IS - 4
M1 - 1300831
ER -