Understanding the Role of Reduced Graphene Oxide in the Electrolyte of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

One of the major drawbacks in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) is related to the use of a liquid electrolyte, which limits durability and stability. Part of this problem can be solved by replacing the liquid electrolyte by a polymer or gel electrolyte, although the open circuit potential (VOC) of the solar cells is affected. In this work, the role of the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) added to a gel electrolyte in order to improve the efficiency of DSSCs is discussed in detail. The gel polymer electrolyte is composed of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), γ-butyrolactone (GBL), LiI, I2, and different concentrations of RGO. The best solar cell using 0.5 wt % of RGO delivered an efficiency of 5.07 ± 0.97%, with the highest values of Isc and VOC. RGO sheets are acting as a multipurpose component in the electrolyte. The recovery of the VOC values can be related to the removal of polyiodide species from the photoanode surface by interaction with the RGO sheets. The increase in the Isc is assigned to the enhancement in ...

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