Liquid phase high shear exfoliated graphene nanoplatelets as counter electrode material for dye-sensitized solar cells

Siva Sankar Nemala; Purnendu Kartikay; Sateesh Prathapani; H L Mallika Bohm; Parag Bhargava; Sivasambu Bohm; Sudhanshu Mallick

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2017.03.083

Liquid phase high shear exfoliated graphene nanoplatelets as counter electrode material for dye-sensitized solar cells

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2017 Aug 1:499:9-16. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.03.083. Epub 2017 Mar 22.

Authors

Siva Sankar Nemala¹, Purnendu Kartikay¹, Sateesh Prathapani¹, H L Mallika Bohm², Parag Bhargava¹, Sivasambu Bohm³, Sudhanshu Mallick⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
² Tata Steel R&D, University of Warwick Science Park, Sir William Lyons Road, Coventry CV4 7EZ, UK.
³ Department of Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India; Talga Technologies Ltd UK, Future Business Centre, King Hedges Road, Cambridge CB4 2HY, UK. Electronic address: sb2209@cam.ac.uk.
⁴ Department of Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India. Electronic address: mallick@iitb.ac.in.

PMID: 28363105
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.03.083

Abstract

Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) are prepared from natural graphite by a simple and low-cost liquid phase high shear exfoliation method. The as-prepared GNPs are used as a counter electrode (CE) material for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). To confirm the Exfoliated GNPs, structural and morphological studies are carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) studies. The electrochemical behaviour of GNPs as a counter electrode material is evaluated and compared with standard Platinum (Pt) electrode using cyclic-voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). These studies indicated that electrocatalytic activity towards I^-/I₃^- redox mediator exhibited by the GNPs based electrode is comparable to standard Pt counter electrodes. DSSCs are fabricated using the counter electrodes made of GNPs and the photo-conversion efficiency is found to be 6.23% under standard test conditions, which is comparable to Pt based DSSCs proving them as potential alternative materials for counter electrodes.

Keywords: Counter electrode; Dye-sensitized solar cells; Exfoliation; Graphene; I-V characteristics.