Reduced graphene oxide-titanium dioxide compact layer prepared via electrodeposition for enhanced performance of dye-sensitized solar cells

This research studied the preparation of titanium dioxide (TiO2) composite films with the incorporation of tin oxide and reduced graphene oxide (SnO2-RGO) for uses as photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The experimental procedure started with the synthesis of graphene oxide by Hummer's method, followed by the preparation of SnO2-RGO composite materials by hydrothermal process. The resultant SnO2-RGO was sequentially mixed with TiO2to prepare the composite films by doctor-blade method. The results indicated that the addition of graphene oxide into SnO2could reduce the band gap, avoid the agglomeration, and improve the dispersion of tin oxide particles (SnO2). According to the efficiency tests of the obtained photoanodes, a small amount of RGO could significantly affect the DSSC’s performance. Without RGO, TiO2-SnO2photoanodes exhibited very poor performance. This could be due to low dye-adsorption capability and low electron transfer ability. The addition of excess amount of RGO in photoanode could, however, lead to negative effects such as charge trapping and lower solar cell efficiency.

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Optimum Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) Volume for Hydrothermal Synthesis of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) Nanostructure Direct Growth on Fluorine-Doped Tin Oxide (FTO)/rGO Substrate

Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience ◽

10.1166/jctn.2020.8736 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 886-892

Author(s):

A. Talib ◽

M. K. Ahmad ◽

N. Ahmad ◽

N. Nafarizal ◽

F. Mohamad ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Titanium Dioxide ◽

Graphene Oxide ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Reduced Graphene Oxide ◽

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells ◽

X Ray ◽

Dye Sensitized ◽

Reduced Graphene ◽

Sensitized Solar Cells

Titanium dioxide or titania shows a great interest in solar cell application due to its morphology and crystalline structure. Moreover, it is an affordable compound that could make solar cells more cost economical than traditional silicon solar cells. In this study, the influence of rutile Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) deposit on reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) as photoanode through one-step hydrothermal technique is demonstrated to synthesis rutile TiO2 nanorods (NRs) and nanoflowers (NFs) morphology in nanoscale dimension with different rGO volume for Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) application. The successful synthesis of TiO2 on FTO/rGO was confirmed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry and incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) spectra. The performance of dye-sensitized solar cells as outcome of rGO contents in solar cell was also examined. The optimal performance result in contrast with liquid electrolyte based solar cell has been approved over photovoltaic performance study in terms characteristics of open circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current (Jsc) and solar conversion efficiency.

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