Nanoporous platinum counter electrodes by glancing angle deposition for dye-sensitized solar cells

We report an effective way to produce nanoporous Pt counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells by the glancing-angle deposition (GLAD) technique. By controlling the orientation of the substrate relative to the incident Pt vapor flux during the deposition, nanoporous films composed of inclined nm-scale columns were produced through the self-shadowing effect. Pt counter electrodes having varied nanoporous structures were characterized for their morphological and electrochemical properties, and were subjected to device studies to establish the correlation with DSSC characteristics/performances. The results suggest that the nanoporous GLAD Pt electrodes can effectively enhance active surface areas, the catalytic ability and charge exchange at the Pt/electrolyte interface of a DSSC. As a result, the quantum efficiency, short-circuit current, and power conversion efficiency of the DSSC can be enhanced by up to 12-13% with using the nanoporous GLAD Pt counter electrodes. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.