Chemical Deposition of Ni/Pt Bi-Layer on Polyimide Film as Flexible Counterelectrodes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

A metalized plastic substrate made of a polyimide film coated with a Ni/Pt bi-layer is prepared as counterelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Surface metallization of Ni/Pt on polyimide is carried out via a chemical process, where top Pt acts as the catalyst and bottom Ni is the conduction/light-reflection layer. This counterelectrode possesses superior sheet resistance (0.173 Ω/□) and charge transfer resistance (0.38 Ω cm2). The DSSC based on this metalized polyimide counterelectrode exhibits an enhanced fill factor (0.7), and accordingly its energy conversion efficiency achieves 7.12%, which is better than those assembled with other platinized counterelectrodes prepared by sputtering.