Investigating the role of graphene in the photovoltaic performance improvement of dye-sensitized solar cell

This article compares and describes the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) consisting of platinum (Pt) and graphene-coupled-platinum based counter electrodes (CE). The power conversion efficiency of DSSC could be enhanced by 36% with multi-layer graphene flakes (MGF)/Pt CE as compared to Pt CE. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry analysis show that DSSC with an MGF/Pt CE exhibits a higher electro-catalytic activity with lower series resistance. Two-diode model has been used to extract the recombination governing and the performance indicating parameters of a DSSC. An enhancement of ≈76% in short-circuit current of MGF/CE based DSSC, as compared to Pt CE, could be attributed to optical and catalytic properties of graphene. This study provides an insight into electronic transport mechanism of DSSC, which changes under the influence of highly catalytic materials such as graphene.