Unusual enhancement in efficiency of DSSCs upon modifying photoanodes with reduced graphene oxide

Abstract

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has emerged as an excellent interfacial material for improvising the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Herein, we have applied rGO as interfacial layers between a fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate and semiconducting material TiO₂ in a photoanode of a DSSC which showed an unusual enhancement in generating a photocurrent in comparison to the control (without rGO layers). An electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) study was performed to gain the mechanistic insights into such a remarkable enhancement of photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) which revealed improved charge transfer and suppressed charge recombination due to high-electrical conductivity and probably more negative work function of our rGO material compared to the bare TiO₂ photoanode.