Enhanced performance of ZnO-based dye-sensitized solar cells using TiO2/graphene nanocomposite compact layer

Abstract

The applications of TiO2/graphene nanocomposite as a compact layer for ZnO-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) have been studied. It was shown that the role of bifunctional graphene flakes in TiO2 compact layer not only suppressed the electron recombination between indium-doped tin oxide and electrolyte, but also reduced the resistance of compact layer. In addition, compared to typical compact layers, TiO2/graphene nanocomposite without blocking effect in optical transmittance could further boost the power conversion efficiency in DSSC. TiO2/graphene nanocomposite was demonstrated the potential to be an alternative of compact layer to typical dense TiO2 for ZnO-based DSSCs. (C) 2017 The Japan Society of Applied Physics