Polyfuran-based multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene nanocomposites as counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells.

Since 1991, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted academic and commercial attention around the world due to their low cost and simple fabrication. DSSCs can convert sunlight into electricity, and their efciencies have increased over time. The properties of the working electrode, counter electrode and electrolyte can afect the performance of DSSCs. In recent years, eforts have been made to reduce the cost of DSSCs by exploring new counterelectrode materials to replace platinum, which is expensive and rare. Polyfuran (PFu) is a heterocyclic aromatic compound that has been extensively studied due to its reactivity, high conductivity and specifc physicochemical properties.

This conducting polymer has been used in technological and industrial applications. However, compared with conducting polymers (CPs) such as polypyrrole (PPy), polythiophene (PTh) and polyaniline (PANI), PFu has attracted less attention because of the high oxidation potential of the furan monomer.

This work presents the preparation of PFu-based MWCNT and GR composites by using an RF-plasma polymerization. The morphologic and structural analyses of these composites have been carried out using diferent techniques. Finally, the obtained composites were applied in DSSCs as the counter electrodes and their performance compared with pure GR and MWCNT.