Polyfuran-based multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene nanocomposites as counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

The preparation of polyfuran-graphene (PFu/GR) and polyfuran-multi-walled carbon nanotube (PFu/MWCNT) nanocomposites was carried out via a plasma polymerization. The characterizations of the pure GR, MWCNTs and the nanocomposites coated with PFu were performed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy analyses. Counter electrodes prepared using the nanocomposites were used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), demonstrating an enhancement in cell performance. The maximum efficiency of the DSSC with the PFu/GR counter-electrode with a short-circuit photocurrent density of 32.26 mA/cm(2) was 5.06%, which is much higher than that of the short-circuit photocurrent density of 14.11 mA/cm(2) and efficiency of 2.13% in the cell using the GR counter electrode. This was attributed to the enhanced conductivity between the PFu-based counter electrode and the electrolyte.