Enhanced performance of dye-sensitized solar cells based on an electrodeposited-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/platinum composite counter electrode

Composite film of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/platinum (PEDOT/Pt) with high efficient is electrodeposited onto rigid fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate by using a facile approach of one step electrochemical polymerization, and its application as counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The DSSC based on the PEDOT/Pt counter electrode exhibited a high power conversion efficiency of 7.86% under illumination of 100 mW cm−2, which is higher 13.09% than that of the DSSC based on Pt electrode (6.95%). The extensive electrochemical analyses for the PEDOT/Pt CE made from cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements, and Tafel curves reveal that the PEDOT/Pt hybrid CE possesses high electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of triiodide to iodide and low charge-transfer resistance on the counter electrode–electrolyte interface. Therefore, the PEDOT/Pt CE can be considered as a promising alternative CE for DSSCs.