- Laser synthesized super-hydrophobic conducting carbon with broccoli-type morphology as a counter-electrode for dye sensitized solar cells.
Laser synthesized super-hydrophobic conducting carbon with broccoli-type morphology as a counter-electrode for dye sensitized solar cells.
Nanoscale (2012-10-05)
Rohan Gokhale, Shruti Agarkar, Joyashish Debgupta, Deodatta Shinde, Benoit Lefez, Abhik Banerjee, Jyoti Jog, Mahendra More, Beatrice Hannoyer, Satishchandra Ogale
PMID23034799
ABSTRACT
A laser photochemical process is introduced to realize superhydrophobic conducting carbon coatings with broccoli-type hierarchical morphology for use as a metal-free counter electrode in a dye sensitized solar cell. The process involves pulsed excimer laser irradiation of a thin layer of liquid haloaromatic organic solvent o-dichlorobenzene (DCB). The coating reflects a carbon nanoparticle-self assembled and process-controlled morphology that yields solar to electric power conversion efficiency of 5.1% as opposed to 6.2% obtained with the conventional Pt-based electrode.
MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description
Sigma-Aldrich
1,2-Dichlorobenzene solution, suitable for NMR (reference standard), 5% in acetone-d6 (99.9 atom % D), NMR tube size 5 mm × 8 in.