Copper nanowires on recycled conducting glass for DSSC electrodes

A simple method for recovery of conducting glass from thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) wastes for low-cost dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) electrodes has been investigated. The indium tin oxide (ITO), TFT array, and color filter glasses separated with two parallel aluminum plates moved in opposite directions in the ethanol solution were recovered. Since the recovered color filter contains a much less indium than the others, recovery of indium from the color filter wastes may not be economically attractive. To enhance conductivity of the recovered color filter glass for DSSC electrodes, Cu@C core-shell nanoparticles (prepared by carbonization of Cu ₂₊-β- cyclodextrin at 573 K) were used to construct Cu nanowires on the recovered glass by spin coating. The carbon-shell of Cu@C was removed by steam reforming at 573 K. The cinversion efficiency of the DSSC utilizing Cu nanowires on electrodes can be increased by at least 12%. Notably, the total material cost of a DSSC can be reduced substantially by utilization of the recovered glass for DSSC electrodes.