“Paper Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell” Based on Carbon-Nanotube-Composite Papers

Yuya Ogata, Kodai Iguchi and Takahide Oya
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Yuya Ogata: Graduate School of Engineering, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 240-8501, Japan
Kodai Iguchi: Graduate School of Engineering, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 240-8501, Japan
Takahide Oya: Graduate School of Engineering, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 240-8501, Japan

Energies, 2019, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: We propose a paper solar cell based on carbon nanotube (CNT)-composite papers. To fabricate this cell, we use dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) for generating power through the redox reaction of dyes in conjunction with CNT-composite papers, which are composite materials containing CNTs and pulp (raw paper material) that can be fabricated easily by using a method based on the Japanese washi papermaking technique. The demand for CNT applications is expected to increase due to their high conductivity and metallic or semiconducting characteristics. This CNT-composite paper can also have metallic or semiconducting characteristics based on the contained CNTs in the composite paper. We previously fabricated a DSC that generates electricity by using CNT-composite papers stacked in a typical DSC structure. However, the conversion efficiency of this DSC was just 0.188%, which is not practical. To overcome this low power generation issue, we tried improving the DSC structure by applying electrodes to the CNT-composite papers in grid patterns for efficient current collection and applying an optimally mixed dye for efficient electron excitation. Results showed that the conversion efficiency improved to 0.58%. Moreover, we demonstrated that using a mixed dye can improve the conversion efficiency of the paper DSC. We expect these types of CNT-composite papers to be used as material for new DSCs.

Keywords: carbon nanotube; carbon-nanotube-composite paper; dye; dye-sensitized solar cell; flexible device; paper (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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