New Flexible Electrospun PET/TiO 2 Composite Photoanode Layer for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, DSSCs, and Its Photovoltaic Performances — Oak Academic Publishing
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New Flexible Electrospun PET/TiO 2 Composite Photoanode Layer for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, DSSCs, and Its Photovoltaic Performances
Research Center for High Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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Research Center for High Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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Research Center for High Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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Department of Chemical Engineering, Laval University, Quebec, Canada
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Research Center for High Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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Department of Chemistry and Biology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
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Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada
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Center for Nanostructures and Advanced Materials, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa
1 Research Center for High Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
2 Research Center for High Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
3 Research Center for High Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
4 Department of Chemical Engineering, Laval University, Quebec, Canada
5 Research Center for High Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
6 Department of Chemistry and Biology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
7 Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, Canada
8 Center for Nanostructures and Advanced Materials, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa
Flexible polymer-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) offer promising potential for lightweight, cost-effective and versatile photovoltaic applications. However, the critical challenge in their widespread applications is the weak thermal stability of most polymeric substrates, which can only withstand a maximum temperature processing of 150˚C. In this study, a facile and low-cost strategy is proposed to develop at low temperature DSSC flexible photoanode based on a polymeric matrix. Highly porous nanocomposites fibrous mats composed of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanobars were prepared through an electrospinning process using different configurations (uniaxial electrospinning, coaxial electrospinning, and electrospray-assisted electrospinning). These techniques enabled precise control of the microstructure and the positioning of TiO 2 within the composite nanofibers. Therefore, the as-produced photoanodes were loaded with N719 dye and tested in DSSC prototype using iodide-triiodide electrolyte and platinum (Pt) coated counter electrode. The results show that incorporating TiO 2 on the fiber surface through the electrospray-assisted electrospinning enhanced the performance of the nanofiber composite, leading to improved dye loading capacity, electron transfer efficiency and photovoltaic performance.
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