title: Electropolymerization of Uniform Polyaniline Nanorod Arrays on Conducting Oxides as Counter Electrodes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.
abstract: Conventional techniques for the synthesis of oriented polyaniline (PANI) nanostructures are often complex or time consuming. Through an innovative reduced graphene oxide (rGO) modified FTO and a low-potential electropolymerization strategy, the rapid and template-free growth of a highly ordered PANI nanorod array on the FTO substrate is realized. The highly ordered nanostructure of the PANI array leads to a high electrocatalytic activity and chemical stability. The importance of the polymerization potential and rGO surface modification to achieve this nanostructure is revealed. Compared to platinum, the PANI nanorod array exhibits an enhanced performance and stability as counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells, with a 17.6 % enhancement in power conversion efficiency.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, 637459, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Ziming
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, 637459, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, 637459, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Si Yun
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Khoo
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, 637459, Singapore, Singapore. tytan@ntu.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Timothy Thatt Yang
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004566:Electrodes; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry*; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D058105:Polymerization; D012993:Solar Energy
chemical_list: D000814:Aniline Compounds; D004396:Coloring Agents; D010087:Oxides; C416807:polyaniline
keywords: conducting materials; dye-sensitized solar cells; electrochemistry; nanostructures; polymerization