TY - JOUR
T1 - Incorporation of graphene into SnO 2 photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells
AU - Batmunkh, Munkhbayar
AU - Dadkhah Jazi, Mahnaz
AU - Shearer, Cameron
AU - Biggs, Mark
AU - Shapter, Joseph
PY - 2016/11/30
Y1 - 2016/11/30
N2 - In dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) photoanodes, tin dioxide (SnO 2 ) structures present a promising alternative semiconducting oxide to the conventional titania (TiO 2 ), but they suffer from poor photovoltaic (PV) efficiency caused by insufficient dye adsorption and low energy value of the conduction band. A hybrid structure consisting of SnO 2 and reduced graphene oxide (SnO 2 -RGO) was synthesized via a microwave-assisted method and has been employed as a photoanode in DSSCs. Incorporation of RGO into the SnO 2 photoanode enhanced the power conversion efficiency of DSSC device by 91.5%, as compared to the device assembled without RGO. This efficiency improvement can be attributed to increased dye loading, enhanced electron transfer and addition of suitable energy levels in the photoanode. Finally, the use of RGO addresses the major shortcoming of SnO 2 when employed as a DSSC photoanode, namely poor dye adsorption and slow electron transfer rate.
AB - In dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) photoanodes, tin dioxide (SnO 2 ) structures present a promising alternative semiconducting oxide to the conventional titania (TiO 2 ), but they suffer from poor photovoltaic (PV) efficiency caused by insufficient dye adsorption and low energy value of the conduction band. A hybrid structure consisting of SnO 2 and reduced graphene oxide (SnO 2 -RGO) was synthesized via a microwave-assisted method and has been employed as a photoanode in DSSCs. Incorporation of RGO into the SnO 2 photoanode enhanced the power conversion efficiency of DSSC device by 91.5%, as compared to the device assembled without RGO. This efficiency improvement can be attributed to increased dye loading, enhanced electron transfer and addition of suitable energy levels in the photoanode. Finally, the use of RGO addresses the major shortcoming of SnO 2 when employed as a DSSC photoanode, namely poor dye adsorption and slow electron transfer rate.
KW - Dye-sensitized solar cells
KW - Graphene
KW - Photoanodes
KW - Photovoltaic
KW - Tin dioxide
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84978056045&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.06.146
DO - 10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.06.146
M3 - Article
VL - 387
SP - 690
EP - 697
JO - Applied Surface Science
JF - Applied Surface Science
SN - 0169-4332
ER -