Low-temperature Fabrication of Counter-electrode for Dye Solar Cells

One of the biggest challenges in nano structure-based solar cells is fabricating low-temperature electrodes for decreasing fabrication cost and complexity and also utilizing them in flexible solar cells. In this research, electrochemically deposited Cr layer is introduced for using as a counter electrode´s substrate. Increasing electrical field on edges and defects result in increasing the uniformity of platinum nanoparticles on the surface and enhancing the efficient surface area. Using this counter electrode, moreover than making the possibility of low-temperature fabrication, enhances large-scale fabrication feasibility due to the low series resistance of Cr in comparison with FTO/glass. Finally, the effect of utilizing Cr as a counter electrode substrate on the efficiency and fabrication limitation is studied in comparison with utilizing that as a photo-anode substrate. The maximum efficiency of 9.52 is obtained by using this low-temperature counter electrode in dye sensitized solar cell.