Electrodeposited polyaniline/multi-walled carbon nanotube composites for solar cell applications

► Synthesized PANI/MWNT composites with airbrushed MWNTs. ► Improve solar cell performance due to improved conductivity in the composites. ► Demonstrated a potential material for organic–inorganic hybrid solar cells. Polyaniline (PANI)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) composite films were fabrica...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Synthetic metals 2012-07, Vol.162 (11-12), p.931-935
Main Authors: AbdulAlmohsin, Samir, Li, Zhongrui, Mohammed, Muatez, Wu, Keyue, Cui, Jingbiao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Carbon nanotube
Composites
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Forms of application and semi-finished materials
Multi wall carbon nanotubes
Nanotubes
Natural energy
Optical properties
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaic conversion
Polyaniline
Polyanilines
Polymer industry, paints, wood
Polymerization
Solar cell
Solar cells
Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells
Solar energy
Technology of polymers
Titanium dioxide
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:► Synthesized PANI/MWNT composites with airbrushed MWNTs. ► Improve solar cell performance due to improved conductivity in the composites. ► Demonstrated a potential material for organic–inorganic hybrid solar cells. Polyaniline (PANI)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) composite films were fabricated by an electrochemical polymerization of aniline with airbrushed MWNTs on ITO substrates. Structural, optical, and electrical properties of the films were studied by Raman, FTIR, optical absorption, and resistivity measurements. The incorporation of MWNTs in PANI was found to effectively increase the film conductivity with a percolation threshold of 5% of nanotubes in the composite. Organic–inorganic hybrid solar cells based on the composite films of different MWNT concentrations and TiO2 nanocrystals were investigated. It was found that the solar cell performance strongly depends on the conductivity of the composite films, which can be tuned by adjusting nanotube concentration. A higher conductivity resulted in a better cell performance, resulting from an efficient charge collection. This study indicates that PANI/MWNT composite films with optimized conductivity are potentially useful for low-cost hybrid solar cell applications.
ISSN:0379-6779
1879-3290
DOI:10.1016/j.synthmet.2012.04.001