Photoelectrochemical Cells Based on Inherently Conducting Polymers
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ical Cells Based on Inherently Conducting Polymers G. G. Wallace, C. O. Too, D. L. Officer and P. C. Dastoor MRS Bulletin / Volume 30 / Issue 01 / January 2005, pp 46 49 Copyright © Materials Research Society 2005 Published online by Cambridge University Press: January 2011 DOI: 10.1557/mrs2005.9
Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0883769400011866 How to cite this article: G. G. Wallace, C. O. Too, D. L. Officer and P. C. Dastoor (2005). Photoelectrochemical Cells Based on Inherently Conducting Polymers. MRS Bulletin,30, pp 4649 doi:10.1557/mrs2005.9 Request Permissions : Click here
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Photoelectrochemical
Cells Based on Inherently Conducting Polymers G.G. Wallace, C.O.Too, D.L. Officer, and P.C. Dastoor
Abstract This review of photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) based on inherently conducting polymers (ICPs) deals with the mechanisms of operation and the various factors that influence the overall efficiency of PECs. The factors addressed include ICP composition and oxidation state, the use of nanostructured surfaces and interfaces, and the PEC electrolyte and redox mediator. Keywords: inherently conducting polymers, ionic liquids, photoelectrochemical cell, photovoltaics, polyanilines, polypyrroles, polythiophenes.
Introduction Studies into the use of light-driven redox reactions can be traced back to the work of Becquerel in 1839,1 wherein the illumination of solutions containing a metal halide salt produced a current between two platinum electrodes. Later work by Vogel on the dye sensitization of the halide semiconductor 2 not only led to the development of photographic film sensitization, but also to the sensitization of photoelectrodes. The development and utilization of this latter phenomenon with high-surface-area n-type semiconductor substrates has led to highly efficient photoelectrochemical cells. This has recently been reviewed by Grätzel.3 The specific photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) now bearing Grätzel’s name utilizes dye-sensitized nanostructured TiO2 on an electrode such as glass coated with SnO2:F as the anode, a redox couple in the form of a liquid electrolyte, and a platinized cathode (Figure 1; also see the article by Grätzel in this issue). Upon irradiation, the excited state dye (D*), which passes an electron to the TiO2, is quenched by the reduced form of the redox mediator (Elred) at the electrode– electrolyte interface. The amazing efficiencies attainable with the Grätzel cell (up to
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10.6%) can be attributed to a number of factors. First, the dye attached to the TiO2, typically a ruthenium polypyridyl complex, provides photon collection spanning a wide range of the solar spectrum. Second, the nanoparticulate mesoporous TiO2 film (5–20 m thickness) provides a surface area for dye chemisorption over a thousand times that of an equivalent flat electrode, affording an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of more tha
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