Renewable energies have become an attractive option to overcome the energy demands in sustainable and affordable ways. It has been estimated that one-third of the total renewable energies would be generated from photovoltaics (PVs). A solar or PV cell is a device that directly converts sunlight into electricity by taking benefit of the photoelectric effect. In the third-generation solar PVs, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are believed to be the most promising and have attracted wide attention. The optimization of a DSSC is focused on four main components: (i) metal oxide semiconductor, (ii) photosensitizer, (iii) redox couple electrolyte, and (iv) counter electrode. Among these, the counter electrode undertakes three functions: (i) as a catalyst, (ii) as a positive electrode of primary cells, and (iii) as a mirror. To obey these functions, the electrode material should have high catalytic activity, high conductivity, high reflectivity, high surface area, and electrochemical and mechanical stability. To improve the performance of DSSCs, many scientists have developed new counter electrodes made of platinum, carbon materials, transition metals, conductive polymers, and composites. This book converses the various aspects of materials for the fabrication of counter electrodes especially for the DSSCs.
Author(s): Alagarsamy Pandikumar, Ramesh Mohan, Kandasamy Jothivnekatachalam
Publisher: Jenny Stanford Publishing
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 277
City: Singapore
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Functions of a Counter Electrode in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
1.1: Introduction
1.2: Counter Electrode and Its Role in DSSCs
1.3: Requirements of Counter Electrode
1.4: Limitations of Counter Electrode
1.5: Characterization of Counter Electrode
1.5.1: Electron Impedance Spectra and Nyquist Plot
1.5.2: Cyclic Voltammetry
1.6: Materials Used as Counter Electrode
1.6.1: Pt Electrode
1.6.2: Graphene Electrode
1.6.3: Carbon Nanotubes as a Counter Electrode
1.6.3.1: Preparation techniques
1.6.4: CNT-Based Composites
1.6.4.1: CNT–polymer composites
1.6.4.2: CNT–metal composites
1.6.4.3: CNT–graphene composites
1.7: Conclusion
Chapter 2: Trends in Metal Oxides Based Counter Electrode in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
2.1: Introduction
2.2: Role of the Counter Electrode in DSSCs
2.3: Basic Function and Optimal Qualities of CE
2.4: Metal Oxides and Their Necessity Towards CE
2.5: Preparation of Metal Oxides
2.5.1: Sol–Gel Method
2.5.2: Hydrothermal and Solvothermal Methods
2.5.3: Vapor Deposited Method
2.5.4: Thermal Decomposition Method
2.6: Metal Oxide Composites as Counter Electrode
2.7: Effects of Phase Structures/Bandgap/Morphology on Metal Oxides and Their Composite CEs
2.7.1: Nanoparticles
2.7.2: Nanorods
2.7.3: Nanowires
2.7.4: Nanofibers
2.7.5: Nanoflowers
2.7.6: Honeycomb-Like Structure and Nanotubes
2.7.7: 3D Morphology-Based CE
2.7.8: Other Morphology-Based CEs
2.7.9: Effects of Oxygen Vacancy in CE
2.8: Summary
Chapter 3: Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Configuration with Transition Metal Carbides as Counter Electrode
3.1: Introduction
3.2: Transition Metal Carbides as CEs for DSSCs
3.2.1: Tungsten Carbides
3.2.2: Molybdenum Carbides
3.2.3: Titanium Carbides
3.2.4: Iron Carbides
3.2.5: Vanadium Carbides
3.3: Conclusions
Chapter 4: Recent Advances in Transition Metal Nitrides Counter Electrode Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
4.1: Introduction
4.2: Vanadium Nitride (VN)
4.3: Molybdenum Nitride (MoN)
4.4: Titanium Nitride (TiN)
4.5: Nickel Nitride
4.6: Zinc Nitride
4.7: Tantalum Nitride
4.8: Conclusion
Chapter 5: Potential Development of Transition Metal Sulphides Based Counter Electrode Platform for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
5.1: Introduction
5.2: Binary Transition Sulfides
5.3: Ternary Transition Metal Sulfides
5.4: Quaternary Transition Metal Sulfides
5.5: Penternary Transition Metal Sulfides
5.6: Conclusion
Chapter 6: Metal Chalcogenides as Counter Electrode Materials
6.1: Introduction
6.2: Role of Counter Electrodes
6.3: Chalcogenides
6.4: Sulphide-Based Electrode
6.5: Selenide-Based Electrode
6.5.1: Binary Selenides
6.5.2: Ternary/Quaternary/Penternary Selenides
6.6: Tellurium-Based Electrode
6.7: Future Scope and Challenges
6.8: Conclusion
Chapter 7: Photovoltaics Performance of Carbon Nanotubes and Their Composites Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
7.1: Introduction
7.2: Carbon Nanotubes
7.3: Synthesis of CNTs
7.3.1: Arc Discharge
7.3.2: Laser Ablation Method
7.3.3: Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD)
7.4: Properties of CNTs
7.5: Carbon Nanotubes/Polymer Nanocomposites
7.5.1: Preparation of Carbon Nanotubes/Polymer Nanocomposites
7.5.1.1: Solution mixing
7.5.1.2: Melt processing
7.5.1.3: In situ polymerization
7.6: Carbon Nanotubes–Polymer Composites as Counter Electrodes for DSSC
7.6.1: CNT-Based Counter Electrodes
7.6.2: Carbon Nantotube/Polymer Composite–Based Counter Electrode
7.7: Conclusion
Chapter 8: Fabrication of Carbon Nanofibers Based Composites for High Performance Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
8.1: Introduction
8.2: Structure and Properties of CNF
8.3: Synthesis
8.3.1: Arc-Discharge Method
8.3.2: Chemical Vapor Deposition Technique
8.3.3: Electrospinning
8.4: Carbon Nanofibers for Counter Electrode
8.5: Composite Electrode
8.6: Summary
Chapter 9: Quantum Dots as Emerging Counter Electrode Materials in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
9.1: Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
9.2: Counter Electrodes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
9.3: Working Mechanism of Counter Electrodes
9.4: Preparation of Counter Electrodes
9.5: Requirements of Counter Electrode in DSSCs
9.6: Quantum Dots
9.6.1: Quantum Confinement Effect
9.6.2: Energy Levels
9.6.3: Emission Stokes Shift
9.6.4: Fluorescence Quantum Yield
9.7: Classification of Nanocrystals
9.7.1: Alloy Quantum Dots
9.8: Synthesis of Quantum Dots
9.8.1: Physical Methods
9.8.2: Chemical Methods
9.8.3: Colloidal Synthesis
9.9: Properties of Quantum Dots
9.9.1: Crystal Shape-Dependent Thermodynamic Properties
9.9.2: Magnetic Properties
9.9.3: Mechanical Properties
9.9.4: Catalytic Properties
9.10: Preparation of QD Sensitizing Layer
9.10.1: In Situ Methods
9.10.2: Ex Situ Methods
9.10.3: Other Methods
9.11: Quantum Dots as Counter Electrodes
9.11.1: Metal Chalcogenide-Based Counter Electrodes
9.11.2: Graphene Quantum Dots
9.11.3: Quantum Dots Sensitized Hybrid Counter Electrodes
9.12: Characterization of Counter Electrodes
9.13: Summary
Index
