A Flexible plastic-stainless steel dye-sensitized solar cell based on organic T super(-)/T sub(2) electrolyte

Flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using a TiO sub(2) film coated on stainless steel (TiO sub(2)/SS) as the working electrode and a Pt film coated on conductive plastic (Pt/plastic) as the counter electrode. Thin Pt film was deposited on conductive plastic specimens for four different deposition times (30, 60, 90 and 120s) using an electrochemical deposition process. Scanning electron micrographs of the resulting Pt films showed that Pt nanoparticles formed on conductive plastic. The DSSC characteristics were analyzed by illuminating light on the counter electrode. The performance of the cell with 30s of Pt deposition (30s-Pt) showed the highest DSSC efficiency, ~2.72%. Cell efficiency decreased with the duration of Pt deposition (or Pt thickness). This is attributed to the reduced transmittance through the thicker Pt films, which is supported by UV-visible spectroscopic measurements. Copyright copyright 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The 30s-Pt dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) generates the highest efficiency about 2.72%. The DSSC efficiency decreases with the Pt film thickness. This is attributed to the reduction of the light transmittance.