ELECTROPOLYMERIZATION OF ANILINE AS PLATINUM-FREE DSSC COUNTER ELECTRODE

• Main Author: Manuel Setiawan, Kevin
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Kimia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/80710
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The key development points of Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC), the second generation of photovoltaics, are components diversification and surface/interface engineering. Platinum black is the most efficient DSSC counter electrode, but due to the low abundance in the earth's crust, its cost is simply unsustainable. Polyaniline (PANI) is a conducting polymer with electrocatalytic activity which makes it a promising alternative to DSSC counter electrode. Among many conventional and facile methods of synthesis, electropolymerization is the best method for depositing PANI film on conductive surface. Electropolymerization is the facile, additive-free, and fabrication-free method to produce DSSC counter electrode. In this research, the author developed Pt-free DSSC counter electrode using electropolymerization of aniline. The electropolymerization was applied on indium tin oxide/polyethylene terephtalate (ITO/PET), synthetic graphite (GS), and flame-modified synthetic graphite (GS-TA). The starting precursor solution was made from 0,5 M aniline in aqueous HCl with various concentration: 0,1; 0,3; 0,5; 0,6; 1,0; 2,0 M. Working electrode potential was measured during electropolymerization and revealed electropolymerization consists of inital potential followed by two phases of PANI film growth. Results of electropolimerization of aniline in HCl 2,0 and 1,0 M showed signs of PANI ES structure, characterized by Raman, FTIR, and UV-Vis spectroscopy method. Serial conductivity of counter electrodes tend to be higher in PANI synthesized from higher HCl concentration. This serial conductivity was improved by flame treatment on gaphite surface with butane torch before electropolymerization. DSSC with counter electrodes from aniline-HCl 0,5 M was found to have the most optimal JSC and VOC. DSSC made with PANI/GS-TA counter elctrode was found to have the most JSC than DSSCs with PANI/GS and PANI/ITO/PET. This DSSC has the most optimal shunt and series resistance, making it the most efficient in this experiment (2,54%).