近年來，奈米材料受到科學家的重視，並廣泛地被應用。這源於奈米材料具有獨特的物理化學性質，且顆粒小、比表面積大，使得其在許多領域的應用上，有卓越的表現。在光電領域中，導電聚合物是一種具有潛力的材料，其中的聚吡咯(polypyrrole)具有良好導電性質及透明性，尤其有代表性。此篇研究中，我們將專注在聚吡咯奈米柱(polypyrrole nanorods)的合成與其於染料敏化太陽能電池的應用。在合成聚吡咯奈米柱的部分，我們使用電化學合成法並搭配具有奈米孔洞的氧化鋁模板(Anodic aluminum oxide, AAO)，合成聚吡咯奈米柱在氧化鋁模板的孔洞中，甚至直接在銦錫氧化物(ITO)透明導電玻璃上成功地合成聚吡咯奈米柱層，準備應用於染料敏化太陽能電池。我們共設計並製作了兩種獨一無二的染料敏化太陽能電池。第一種電池設計以聚吡咯與氧化鋅複合物光陽極為基礎。在光陽極準備上，我們首先準備覆蓋於銦錫氧化物導電玻璃上的聚吡咯奈米柱層，接著使用連續式離子層吸附與反應法(Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction method, SILAR)合成氧化鋅薄膜於前述聚吡咯奈米柱層上，實驗結果顯示此法所製的氧化鋅薄膜厚度太薄，不適合應用於染料敏化太陽能電池的光陽極上。於是我們改為使用旋轉塗布法(Spin Coating)來準備覆於銦錫氧化物玻璃上的聚吡咯奈米柱層，並且一步步完成此款電池的製作，並準備另一款具有氧化鋅陽極的電池作為比較的基準，但結果顯示我們的這款電池，表現並沒有一般氧化鋅陽極的電池來的好。在第二種電池的設計上，我們將覆於銦錫氧化物玻璃上的聚吡咯奈米柱層應用於電池的對電極上，並完成此款電池的製作。同時製作另一款具有鉑對電極的電池做比較，我們的第二款電池具有高短路電流密度(Jsc)以及高填充因子(fill factor)，其良好的表現顯示聚吡咯奈米柱層對電極極有發展潛力。

In this research, polypyrrole nanorods (PPyNRs) have been synthesized successfully by template-assisted electrochemical process. The scanning electron microscope was applied to investigate the morphology of PPyNRs.
A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) consists of a photoanode, a counter electrode and an electrolyte. We designed two types of DSSC and focused on their preparation and characterization.
The PPyNRs/ZnO hybrid was applied as photoanode of the first type of DSSC. As a first step, the PPyNRs on ITO was in situ prepared. Then, the ZnO film on PPyNRs-coated ITO was deposited by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The PPyNRs/ZnO-coated ITO was characterized by applying cyclic voltammetry. The results indicate that the film is too thin to be used as photoanode. Thus, another method called spin coating was used to fabricate the ZnO film on PPyNRs-coated ITO. Then, the dye-sensitized PPyNRs/ZnO-coated ITO was used as photoanode of DSSC. For a comparison, a typical DSSC based on ZnO photoanode was also fabricated. The photovoltaic performance of DSSC based on PPyNRs/ZnO photoanode was less well than the typical DSSC based on ZnO photoanode.
The second type of DSSC was based on PPyNRs counter electrode. The preparation of PPyNRs counter electrode is the same as PPyNRs-coated ITO mentioned above. For a comparison, a DSSC based on Pt counter electrode was made. Cyclic voltammetry was applied to examine the electrochemical properties of PPyNRs electrode and Pt electrode as a reference, the results implies a higher catalytic activity of PPyNRs comparing to that of Pt. Photovoltaic performances of both DSSCs were investigated. Short-circuit current density of DSSC based on PPyNRs counter electrode was comparable to that of DSSC based on Pt counter electrode. It indicates the PPyNRs electrode is a potential candidate for counter electrode of DSSC.

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