Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Three-Dimensional Carbon Nanotube Yarn Based Solid State Solar Cells With Multiple Sensitizers Exhibit High Energy Conversion Efficiency, Glenn Grissom, Jared Jaksik, Monica Mcentee, Erin M. Durke, Sayeeda Tj Aishee, Margaret Cua, Okenwa Okoli, Ahmed Touhami, H. Justin Moore, M. Jasim Uddin

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fiber-type dye sensitized solar cells that are non-metallic, flexible, and thread-like in structure have many potential military and functional textile applications. With the use of quantum dots (QD), exciton transfer facilitators (Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester-PCBM) and Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl-P3HT), and careful preparation of the TiO2 oxide layer deposited on the carbon fiber working electrode, an optimized efficiency of 7.6% was obtained. Carbon nanotube yarn (CNTY) was used to prepare both the working and counter electrodes of the fabricated cells. TiCl4 annealing of the TiO2 layer was carried out and the resulting oxide layer morphology was found to be very uniform. The quantum …