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Graphene/nanotubehybridbenefitsflexiblesolarcellsScienceDaily

Graphene/nanotubehybridbenefitsflexiblesolarcells
Date:

November17,2014

Source: RiceUniversity
RiceUniversityscientists
haveinventedanovelcathode
thatmaymakecheap,flexible
dyesensitizedsolarcells
practical.
TheRicelabofmaterials
scientistJunLoucreatedthe
newcathode,oneofthetwo
electrodesinbatteries,from
nanotubesthatareseamlessly
bondedtographeneand
replacestheexpensiveand
brittleplatinumbased
materialsoftenusedinearlier
versions.
Thediscoverywasreported
onlineintheRoyalSocietyof
Chemistry'sJournalof
MaterialsChemistryA.

Thegraphene/nanotubehybridknownasJamesbondforRiceUniversity
chemistJamesTouriskeytoanefficientandflexiblecathodefordyesensitized
solarcells.Thenanotubesaregrownwithseamlessbondstothegraphenebase.
Credit:TourGroup/RiceUniversity

Dyesensitizedsolarcellshavebeenindevelopmentsince1988andhavebeenthesubjectofcountlesshighschool
chemistryclassexperiments.Theyemploycheaporganicdyes,drawnfromthelikesofraspberries,whichcover
conductivetitaniumdioxideparticles.Thedyesabsorbphotonsandproduceelectronsthatflowoutofthecellforusea
returnlinecompletesthecircuittothecathodethatcombineswithaniodinebasedelectrolytetorefreshthedye.
Whiletheyarenotnearlyasefficientassiliconbasedsolarcellsincollectingsunlightandtransformingitinto
electricity,dyesensitizedsolarcellshaveadvantagesformanyapplications,accordingtocoleadauthorPeiDong,a
postdoctoralresearcherinLou'slab.
"Thefirstisthatthey'relowcost,becausetheycanbefabricatedinanormalarea,"Dongsaid."There'snoneedfora
cleanroom.They'resemitransparent,sotheycanbeappliedtoglass,andtheycanbeusedindimlighttheywilleven
workonacloudyday.
"Orindoors,"Lousaid."Onecompanycommercializingdyesensitizedcellsisembeddingthemincomputerkeyboards
andmicesoyouneverhavetoinstallbatteries.Normalroomlightissufficienttokeepthemalive."
ThebreakthroughextendsastreamofnanotechnologyresearchatRicethatbeganwithchemistRobertHauge's2009
inventionofa"flyingcarpet"techniquetogrowverylongbundlesofalignedcarbonnanotubes.Inhisprocess,the
nanotubesremainedattachedtothesurfacesubstratebutpushedthecatalystupastheygrew.
Thegraphene/nanotubehybridcamealongtwoyearsago.Dubbed"James'bond"inhonorofitsinventor,Ricechemist
JamesTour,thehybridfeaturesaseamlesstransitionfromgraphenetonanotube.Thegraphenebaseisgrownvia
chemicalvapordepositionandacatalystisarrangedinapatternontop.Whenheatedagain,carbonatomsinan
aerosolfeedstockattachthemselvestothegrapheneatthecatalyst,whichliftsoffandallowsthenewnanotubesto
grow.Whenthenanotubesstopgrowing,theremainingcatalyst(the"carpet")actsasacapandkeepsthenanotubes
fromtangling.
Thehybridmaterialsolvestwoissuesthathaveheldbackcommercialapplicationofdyesensitizedsolarcells,Lou
said.First,thegrapheneandnanotubesaregrowndirectlyontothenickelsubstratethatservesasanelectrode,
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Graphene/nanotubehybridbenefitsflexiblesolarcellsScienceDaily

eliminatingadhesionissuesthatplaguedthetransferofplatinumcatalyststocommonelectrodesliketransparent
conductingoxide.
Second,thehybridalsohaslesscontactresistancewiththeelectrolyte,allowingelectronstoflowmorefreely.Thenew
cathode'schargetransferresistance,whichdetermineshowwellelectronscrossfromtheelectrodetotheelectrolyte,
wasfoundtobe20timessmallerthanforplatinumbasedcathodes,Lousaid.
Thekeyappearstobethehybrid'shugesurfacearea,estimatedatmorethan2,000squaremeterspergram.Withno
interruptionintheatomicbondsbetweennanotubesandgraphene,thematerial'sentirearea,insideandout,becomes
onelargesurface.Thisgivestheelectrolyteplentyofopportunitytomakecontactandprovidesahighlyconductive
pathforelectrons.
Lou'slabbuiltandtestedsolarcellswithnanotubeforestsofvaryinglengths.Theshortest,whichmeasuredbetween
2025microns,weregrownin4minutes.Othernanotubesamplesweregrownforanhourandmeasuredabout100150
microns.Whencombinedwithaniodidesaltbasedelectrolyteandananodeofflexibleindiumtinoxide,titanium
dioxideandlightcapturingorganicdyeparticles,thelargestcellswereonly350micronsthicktheequivalentofabout
twosheetsofpaperandcouldbeflexedeasilyandrepeatedly.
Testsfoundthatsolarcellsmadefromthelongestnanotubesproducedthebestresultsandtoppedoutatnearly18
milliampsofcurrentpersquarecentimeter,comparedwithnearly14milliampsforplatinumbasedcontrolcells.The
newdyesensitizedsolarcellswereasmuchas20percentbetteratconvertingsunlightintopower,withanefficiency
ofupto8.2percent,comparedwith6.8fortheplatinumbasedcells.
Basedonrecentworkonflexible,graphenebasedanodematerialsbytheLouandTourlabsandsynthesizedhigh
performancedyesbyotherresearchers,Louexpectsdyesensitizedcellstofindmanyuses."We'redemonstratingall
thesecarbonnanostructurescanbeusedinrealapplications,"hesaid.
YuZhu,aRicealumnusandnowanassistantprofessorattheUniversityofAkron,Ohio,iscoleadauthorofthepaper.
CoauthorsincludepostdoctoralresearcherJingjieWuandgraduatestudentsJingZhangandSidongLei,allofRice
andFengHao,apostdoctoralresearcher,andProfessorHongLinofTsinghuaUniversity,China.TouristheT.T.and
W.F.ChaoChairinChemistryaswellasaprofessorofmaterialsscienceandnanoengineeringandofcomputer
science.Haugeisadistinguishedfacultyfellowinchemistryandinmaterialsscienceandnanoengineeringwiththe
RichardE.SmalleyInstituteforNanoscaleScienceandTechnology.Louisanassociateprofessorandassociatechair
oftheDepartmentofMaterialsScienceandNanoEngineering.
TheresearchwassupportedbytheWelchFoundation,theAirForceOfficeofScientificResearchandits
MultidisciplinaryUniversityResearchInitiative(MURI),theDepartmentofEnergy,theLockheedMartinLANCERIV
program,SandiaNationalLaboratoryandtheOfficeofNavalResearchMURI.
StorySource:
TheabovestoryisbasedonmaterialsprovidedbyRiceUniversity.TheoriginalarticlewaswrittenbyMikeWilliams.
Note:Materialsmaybeeditedforcontentandlength.
JournalReference:
1. PeiDong,YuZhu,JingZhang,ChengPeng,ZhengYan,LeiLi,ZhiweiPeng,GedengRuan,WanyaoXiao,Hong
Lin,JamesM.Tour,JunLou.GrapheneonMetalGridsastheTransparentConductiveMaterialforDye
SensitizedSolarCell.TheJournalofPhysicalChemistryC,2014118(45):25863DOI:10.1021/jp505735j
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RiceUniversity."Graphene/nanotubehybridbenefitsflexiblesolarcells."ScienceDaily.ScienceDaily,17November
2014.<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141117154728.htm>.

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