Photoelectrochemical cells based on emeraldine base form of polyaniline

Abstract

Photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) have been fabricated using the emeraldine base form of polyaniline (EB) as a photoactive material and Eu2+/Eu3+ redox couple in methanol as an electrolyte. A PEC with a structure: Glass/ITO/EB/electrolyte/Pt produces an open-circuit voltage (V OC) of -0.132 V and a short-circuit current (I SC) of 0.64 µA cm-2 under 50 mW cm-2 white light illumination from Xe lamp. In an effort to increase the photoresponse, a PEC with a structure: Glass/ITO/EB:Nc-TiO2/Electrolyte/Pt has been devised in which a composite film of EB and nanocrystalline TiO2 (Nc-TiO2) is used as a photoactive material. The cell shows a V OC of -0.205 V and an I SC of 105 µA cm-2 when illuminated under the same conditions.