Silver nanowires/polypyrrole nanostructured composite as an alternative electrocatalytic material for dye-sensitized solar cells

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) provide high power conversion efficiency, flexibility, transparency and simple fabrication at low cost. This research focuses on synthesizing high ordered Silver (Ag) nanowires via anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates by electrodeposition method. Ag nanowires/Polypyrrole (PPy) nanocomposites for the counter electrode (CE) of DSSC are fabricated to be a cost-effective and efficient alternative for platinum (Pt) based counter electrode (CE). Structural analysis of Ag NWs and PPy exhibits its crystal structure to be FCC and triclinic, respectively. By incorporating Ag NWs/PPy nanocomposites, catalytic properties and electrical conductivity of the CE have been aggravated remarkably. The spin coating technique is used to synthesize Ag NWs and PPy nanocomposites for deposition on Fluorine-doped Tin Oxide (FTO) glass. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) demonstrated that the nanocomposites of Ag NWs/PPy show good electrocatalytic activity in Oxidation/Reduction of iodide electrolyte solution as compare to platinum. Minimum peak to peak potential difference (∆E PP ) obtained from CV curves determined the high electrocatalytic properties of the Ag NWs/PPy nanocomposites for the counter electrode. The conclusions may provide a supportive direction for the fabrication of high power conversion efficiencies (PCE) DSSCs.