Enhanced catalytic property of transparent PEDOT counter electrodes for bifacial dye sensitized solar cells

Transparent poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) film is electrochemically polymerized on conducting substrate as counter electrode (CE) for bifacial dye sensitized solar cells application. In order to further boost the catalyst property of PEDOT, Pt films with optimized precursor loading is studied. The addition of Pt nanoclusters not only improves the coverage of the PEDOT film, but also greatly enhances conductivity and electrocatalytic property of the Pt/PEDOT composite film. The DSSC fabricated by the Pt-10/PEDOT CE gains 6.77 % PCE under the front-illumination, which is the highest among all the other CEs of the pristine Pt and pristine PEDOT. For the back-illumination, a decent PCE of 4.63 % is achieved by the composite Pt-10/PEDOT CE. The result herein demonstrates that Pt-10/PEDOT composite CE is a cost effective alternative to traditional Pt CE. Its good transmittance makes it suitable for bifacial DSSCs in building integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs).