The effect of transition metal ions (M^(2+)=Mn^(2+),Ni^(2+),Co^(2+),Cu^(2+)) on the chemical synthesis polyaniline as counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells

摘要

The effect of transition metal ions(M^(2+)=Mn^(2+),Ni^(2+),Co^(2+),Cu^(2+)) on the chemical synthesis of polyaniline(PANI) used as a platinum-free counter electrode(CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs) was investigated.PANI was synthesized by co-polymerization of aniline in the presence of different transition metal ions by using potassium dichromate in acidic medium. It was found that the ion doping of PANI showed a certain catalytic activity for the regeneration of traditional iodide/triiodide(I^-/I_3^-) redox couples. The power conversion efficiency(η) of PANI CEs doped with Mn^(2+),Ni^(2+),Co^(2+) (4.41%, 2.36% and 2.10%, respectively) were higher than 1.94%, the value measured for PANI CE without doping. Doping with Cu^(2+)decreased the power conversion efficiency of PANI CE(PANI-Cu^(2+) η = 1.41%). The electrical properties of the PANI, PANI-Ni^(2+), PANI-Co^(2+),PANI-Mn^(2+) and PANI-Cu^(2+) were studied by cyclic voltammetry(CV), impedance(EIS), and Tafel polarization curve. The experimental results confirmed that PANI was affected by the doping of different transition metal ions(M^(2+)=Mn^(2+),Ni^(2+),Co^(2+),Cu^(2+)). These results indicate a potential application of ion doped PANI as counter electrode in cost-effective DSSCs.