摘要
In this work, we investigated the effect of single walled carbon nanotubes （SWCNT） on the electrical and photovoltaic properties of methyl red （MR） dye based photoelectrochemical cell （PEC）. MR dye based PEC with LiCl04 as ion salt were fabricated with and without mixing SWCNT. The cells were characterized through electrical and optical measurements. The performance of the devices changed drastically in presence of SWCNT. The transition voltage and trap energy of the cells were estimated from the steady-state dark current voltage （I-V） analysis. The transition voltage and trap energy decreased for MR dye cell in presence of SWCNT. Open circuit voltage （Voc）, short circuit current （Jsc）, fill factor （FF） and power conversion efficiency （v/） increased due to the addition of SWCNT. Further measurement of the transient photo- current showed that the growth and decay of photocurrent was quite faster in presence of SWCNT. The photocurrent decay with time was fitted for both the cells and found to follow a power law relation which indicates dispersive transport mechanism with exponential trap states distrib- uted in between lowest unoccupied molecular orbital （LUMO） and highest occupied molecular orbital （HOMO） levels. Possible interpretation is done on the lowering of trap energy with the photocurrent. These results suggest that SWCNT lowers the trap energy of the cells by providing efficient percolation pathways for the conduction of charges. It is expected that due to lowering of trap energy the residing time of the free carriers within the traps decreases. In other words, it may also be said that the charge recombination decreases. These factors affect the overall conduction of charges and improve the electrical and photovoltaic properties.
In this work, we investigated the effect of single walled carbon nanotubes （SWCNT） on the electrical and photovoltaic properties of methyl red （MR） dye based photoelectrochemical cell （PEC）. MR dye based PEC with LiCl04 as ion salt were fabricated with and without mixing SWCNT. The cells were characterized through electrical and optical measurements. The performance of the devices changed drastically in presence of SWCNT. The transition voltage and trap energy of the cells were estimated from the steady-state dark current voltage （I-V） analysis. The transition voltage and trap energy decreased for MR dye cell in presence of SWCNT. Open circuit voltage （Voc）, short circuit current （Jsc）, fill factor （FF） and power conversion efficiency （v/） increased due to the addition of SWCNT. Further measurement of the transient photo- current showed that the growth and decay of photocurrent was quite faster in presence of SWCNT. The photocurrent decay with time was fitted for both the cells and found to follow a power law relation which indicates dispersive transport mechanism with exponential trap states distrib- uted in between lowest unoccupied molecular orbital （LUMO） and highest occupied molecular orbital （HOMO） levels. Possible interpretation is done on the lowering of trap energy with the photocurrent. These results suggest that SWCNT lowers the trap energy of the cells by providing efficient percolation pathways for the conduction of charges. It is expected that due to lowering of trap energy the residing time of the free carriers within the traps decreases. In other words, it may also be said that the charge recombination decreases. These factors affect the overall conduction of charges and improve the electrical and photovoltaic properties.
