Performances characteristics of dye-sensitized solar cells based on counter electrodes with Pt films of different thickness

The effects of the thickness of Pt film on the property of platinized counter electrode and the performance of the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) were investigated. The Pt film sputtered on an FTO glass is constructed of Pt particles, and the grain size of the Pt particles gradually increased with the increase in the Pt film thickness. When the Pt film thickness exceeds 100 nm, further Pt deposition has no significant effect on the conductivity improvement. In the range between 10 and 415 nm, the Pt film thickness has no significant influence on the performance of the DSC. A high conversion efficiency of ca. 5% was obtained by the DSC composed of the counter electrode with Pt film of 10 nm thickness. These results are important for reducing the production cost by reducing the required amount of expensive platinum. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.