{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.03560830860534125, 'fraction_numerical': 0.010385756676557863, 'mean_word_length': 5.022321428571429, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Post-plasma treatment of a carbon nanowall for use as a counter electrode in a dye-sensitized solar cell

This research investigates plasma-treated carbon nanowalls (CNW) for use as counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The CNWs were synthesized on a fluorine-tin-oxide (FTO) glass substrate via microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor-deposition (PECVD) using CH4 gas. Then, post-plasma treatments were performed on the CNWs in different plasma environments (using O2, H2 and N2 gas) under the same conditions, after which DSSCs were fabricated using the plasma-treated CNWs as counter electrodes. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed to obtain cross-sectional and planar images of the CNWs, and Raman spectroscopy was used to analyze the structural characteristics of the post-plasma-treated synthesized CNWs. The energy conversion efficiency was then used to analyze the effect of using the plasma-treated CNWs as counter electrodes in the DSSCs. The DSSC for which the as-deposited CNW was used as a counter electrode showed an energy conversion efficiency of 1.64%, and the DSSC with the H2 postplasma-treated CNW counter electrode showed an energy conversion efficiency of 2.23%. Thus, the DSSC with the H2-treated electrode presented a 36% higher efficiency than the DSSC with the as-deposited CNW electrode.