Abstract
Photoelectrochemical solar cells are constructed with stacked-cup carbon nanotubes (SCCNT) on optically transparent electrodes (OTE). Three SCCNT samples with different tube lengths (long type, L-SCCNT; medium type, M-SCCNT; and short type, S-SCCNT) were electrophoretically deposited on OTE/SnO 2 electrodes to probe the tube-length dependence of the photoelectrochemical behavior. The maximum incident photon-to-photocurrent efficiency (IPCE) of 19% is attained at an applied bias potential of 0.2 V vs SCE in OTE/SnO 2/L-SCCNT. The power conversion efficiencies (η) of SCCNT-modified electrodes increase with increasing tube length. The maximum power conversion efficiency (η) of OTE/SnO 2/L-SCCNT electrode is determined to be 0.11%, which is about 6 times greater than that of the OTE/SnO 2/S-SCCNT electrode (0.018%). Molecular assemblies composed of S-SCCNT and 5,15-bis(3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl)porphyrin (H 2P) prepared in acetonitrile/toluene (5/1, v/v) were deposited as three-dimensional arrays onto nanostructured SnO 2 films to further improve the photoelectrochemical response in the visible region. The composite electrode of S-SCCNT-H 2P (OTE/SnO 2/S-SCCNT-H 2P) exhibits an IPCE of 32% under an applied potential of 0.2 V vs SCE. The observed increase in IPCE is greater than that of the additive effects observed from the single component systems (viz., OTE/SnO 2/S-SCCNT or OTE/SnO 2/H 2P). Improved efficiency of the photocurrent generation is ascribed to the ability of SCCNT in promoting photoinduced charge separation by accepting electrons from excited H 2P and transporting to the collecting electrode surface.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 16626-16634 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Physical Chemistry C |
Volume | 111 |
Issue number | 44 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2007 Nov 8 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Energy(all)
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films