Metal-organic framework/sulfonated polythiophene on carbon cloth as a flexible counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

Metal-organic framework (MOF-525) is firstly introduced as the electro-catalyst for the counter electrode (CE) of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). When MOF-525 was mixed with the conductive binder of sulfonated-poly(thiophene-3-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)-ethoxy]-2,5-diyl) (s-PT), a composite film of MOF-525/s-PT was successfully deposited on a flexible substrate, carbon cloth (CC). The one-dimensional carbon fibers in CC were intended to provide oriented electron transfer pathways as a conductive core, and the composite film of MOF-525/s-PT covered on each carbon fiber in CC was designed to trigger the reduction of I3− as an electro-catalytic shell. Thus, a hierarchical electron transfer network was established.