Performance modelling of textile solar cell developed by carbon fabric/polypyrrole flexible counter electrode

In this research, the carbon fabric (CF) is coated with polypyrrole (PPy) monomer via electropolymerisation and used as a flexible counter electrode. The polypyrrole coated carbon fabric (PPy-CF) counter electrode surface shows a homogenous coating of the polypyrrole film. The PPy-CF counter electrode exhibits appropriate electrical conductivity and suitable electron/hole charge transfer in the electrode/electrolyte interface in the electrical double layer (EDL) and adequate redox electrocatalytic activity. Also, dye-sensitised solar cell (DSSC) based on the PPy-CF counter electrode achieved 3.86% of power conversion efficiency (PCE). Furthermore, drift-diffusion modelling, based on the homogenisation theory has been established to appraise the photovoltaic performance. This study extends novel visions towards applying electro-conductive fabric based on polypyrrole for the optoelectronic textile devices. [GRAPHICS]

Automated summary

In this research, a flexible counter electrode was developed by coating polypyrrole monomer on carbon fabric via electropolymerisation. The coated electrode showed an evenly distributed polypyrrole film, exhibiting suitable electrical conductivity, charge transfer capability, and redox electrocatalytic activity. The dye-sensitised solar cell based on this counter electrode achieved a power conversion efficiency of 3.86%. The study also established a drift-diffusion model to evaluate the photovoltaic performance, offering new insights for the application of electro-conductive fabric in optoelectronic textile devices.