Platinum (Pt) is a conventional material for counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) due to its excellent electrocatalytic activity in the redox process. However, the high cost of Pt motivates researchers to search for composite materials of Pt to reduce its consumption. This study is aimed to reduce Pt usage by incorporating reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with Pt of different ratios in counter electrode thin films and to determine the optimum ratio with the highest efficiency. A DSSCbased platinum/rGO (Pt/rGO) counter electrode composite was fabricated using doctor-blade method. X-ray diffraction analysis was performed to examine the crystallite structure of the Pt/rGO thin film. The optimum ratio was found to be 70:30 of Pt:rGO, with current-voltage characterization showing an efficiency of 5.5%, open-circuit voltage of 0.739 V, current density of 12.5 mA/cm 2 , and fill factor of 59.24%.Keywords: counter electrode, dye-sensitized solar cell, graphene, platinum, thin film Abstrak Platinum (Pt) adalah bahan konvensional untuk elektrod lawan sel suria terpeka pewarna (DSSC) memandangkan ia mempunyai aktiviti pemangkinan-elektro dalam proses redoks yang sangat baik. Namun begitu, harga Pt sangat mahal mendorong para pengkaji untuk mencari bahan komposit Pt yang boleh mengurangkan penggunaannya. Kajian ini menumpukan pengurangan penggunaan Pt dengan menggabungkannya dengan grafin oksida terturun (rGO) dengan Pt dalam filem nipis elektrod lawan pada nisbah berbeza dan untuk menentukan nisbah paling optimum yang meningkatkan kecekapan. DSSC berasaskan komposit elektrod lawan platinum/grafin oksida (Pt/rGO) telah difabrikasikan menggunakan kaedah doctor blade. Analisis Pembelauan sinar-X (XRD) telah dijalankan untuk memeriksa struktur kristal pada filem nipis Pt/rGO. Nisbah optimum yang dicapai adalah 70:30 kepada Pt:rGO dimana pencirian arus-voltan (I-V) menunjukkan nilai kecekapan ialah 5.5%, dengan nilai litar voltan terbuka V oc , ketumpatan arus J sc, dan faktor mengisi FF, masing-masing dengan nilai 0.739 V, 12.5 mA/cm 2 dan 59.24 %.
Polymers are excellent host materials for nanoparticles of metals and semiconductors. PVAAgCu nanocomposite was synthesized from chemical reduction, whereas PANIAgCu nanocomposite was synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization. PVAAgCu and PANIAgCu thin films were deposited on the glass substrate by spin coating technique. The films were characterized by using XRD and AFM. The sensitivity of the samples was analyzed by IV measurement. The peaks in XRD patterns confirm the presence of Ag-Cu nanoparticles in face centered cubic structure. AFM images show the roughness of PVAAgCu and PANIAgCu increased as Ag concentration decreased and Cu concentration increased. I-V measurements indicate that the change in the current of the films increases with the presence of E. coli. The sensitivity on E. coli increases for PVAAgCu and PANIAgCu thin films with high concentration of Cu.
The stacked layer technique of platinum (Pt) and reduce graphene oxide (rGO) counters electrode thin film fabricated by using doctor blade method was prepared. The first layer with direct intact on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate was graphene thin film and second layer on top of graphene layer was Pt thin film. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were performed on the thin films to determine the formation of crystallite structure and the surface roughness of the thin films, respectively. The crystallite size was determined from XRD data and it shows that Pt/rGO-10 thin film has the suitable crystal size for a better catalytic activity. As for surface roughness analysis from AFM images, Pt and Pt/rGO thin films exhibit the rougher surface compared to rGO thin film. The thin films were further analysed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) to observe the adhesion of Pt and rGO on FTO glass substrate in nanoscale image. The catalytic activity of each thin film was measured by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The Pt/rGO counter electrode of 10μl aqueous graphene oxide denoted as Pt/rGO-10 has high catalytic activity compare to Pt. The Pt/rGO-10 recorded the highest current density at -3.075 mA/cm-2 indicate a high catalytic activity at the counter electrode. Thus, Pt/rGO-10 counter electrode thin film deemed as comparable to conventional counter electrode material which is Pt. Therefore, Pt/rGO-10 counter electrode is expected to improve the performance of Dye-sensitized solar cell.
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