Facile preparation of nanofibrous polyaniline thin film as counter electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells

A fibrous polyaniline (PANI) thin film has been fabricated from prepared PANI nanofiber solution by Marangoni flow. The PANI retained its original fiber morphology after being deposited into films and formed highly interconnected network structures, which leads to an excellent electrochemical catalytic activity. This PANI thin film was applied in dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) as counter electrode. A power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.8% of the DSSC by this PANI counter electrode was obtained without optimization of synthesis conditions, compared with 5.1% PCE by traditional Pt counter electrode. Better performances are attainable by improving the conductivity of PANI with acid doping process to decrease the sheet resistance of this electrode. Facile synthesis process and good performance of these nanofibrous PANI thin films highlight the potential large scale applications for low-cost counter electrode in DSSCs. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3699618]