Effect of graphene nanoplatelet thickness on electrochemical performance of dye-sensitized solar cell

Jiawei Gong; K. Sumathy; Zhengping Zhou; Qiquan Qiao

doi:10.1109/EIT.2016.7535255

Effect of graphene nanoplatelet thickness on electrochemical performance of dye-sensitized solar cell

Jiawei Gong, K. Sumathy, Zhengping Zhou, Qiquan Qiao

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/Poem › Conference contribution

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Graphene nanoplatelets were activated by a hydrothermal method using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activating agent. The activation process significantly increases the sample specific surface area from 2.4 m²/g to 48 m²/g. The activated graphene nanoplatelets (aGNP) were used as counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). DSSCs fabricated using aGNP as counter electrodes were tested under standard AM 1.5 illumination with an intensity of 91.5 mW/cm². The optimized device achieved an overall power conversion efficiency of 7.7%, which is comparable to the conventional platinum counter electrode (8%). The device efficiency (η) and short-circuit current density (J_sc) are dependent on the thickness which is in turn proportional to the surface area, indicating that the surface area could be a dominating factor that dictates the device performance. In addition, it was found that the performance of DSSC is sensitive to the thickness of aGNP thickness. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) indicated that aGNP possessed excellent electrocatalytic activity for triiodide reduction at the interface between electrolyte and counter electrode. This suggests that the aGNP is a promising, cost effective counter electrode material with similar efficiency to Pt counter electrode for the DSSC application.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	2016 IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology, EIT 2016
Publisher	IEEE Computer Society
Pages	297-301
Number of pages	5
ISBN (Electronic)	9781467399852
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/EIT.2016.7535255
State	Published - Aug 5 2016
Externally published	Yes
Event	2016 IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology, EIT 2016 - Grand Forks, United States Duration: May 19 2016 → May 21 2016

Publication series

Name	IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology
Volume	2016-August
ISSN (Print)	2154-0357
ISSN (Electronic)	2154-0373

Conference

Conference	2016 IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology, EIT 2016
Country/Territory	United States
City	Grand Forks
Period	5/19/16 → 5/21/16

Keywords

counter electrode
dye-sensitized solar cells
electrocatalysis
graphene

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Computer Science Applications
Information Systems
Control and Systems Engineering
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Access to Document

10.1109/EIT.2016.7535255

Cite this

Gong, J., Sumathy, K., Zhou, Z., & Qiao, Q. (2016). Effect of graphene nanoplatelet thickness on electrochemical performance of dye-sensitized solar cell. In 2016 IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology, EIT 2016 (pp. 297-301). Article 7535255 (IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology; Vol. 2016-August). IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/EIT.2016.7535255

Effect of graphene nanoplatelet thickness on electrochemical performance of dye-sensitized solar cell. / Gong, Jiawei; Sumathy, K.; Zhou, Zhengping et al.
2016 IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology, EIT 2016. IEEE Computer Society, 2016. p. 297-301 7535255 (IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology; Vol. 2016-August).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Entry/Poem › Conference contribution

Gong, J, Sumathy, K, Zhou, Z & Qiao, Q 2016, Effect of graphene nanoplatelet thickness on electrochemical performance of dye-sensitized solar cell. in 2016 IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology, EIT 2016., 7535255, IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology, vol. 2016-August, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 297-301, 2016 IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology, EIT 2016, Grand Forks, United States, 5/19/16. https://doi.org/10.1109/EIT.2016.7535255

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title = "Effect of graphene nanoplatelet thickness on electrochemical performance of dye-sensitized solar cell",

abstract = "Graphene nanoplatelets were activated by a hydrothermal method using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activating agent. The activation process significantly increases the sample specific surface area from 2.4 m2/g to 48 m2/g. The activated graphene nanoplatelets (aGNP) were used as counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). DSSCs fabricated using aGNP as counter electrodes were tested under standard AM 1.5 illumination with an intensity of 91.5 mW/cm2. The optimized device achieved an overall power conversion efficiency of 7.7%, which is comparable to the conventional platinum counter electrode (8%). The device efficiency (η) and short-circuit current density (Jsc) are dependent on the thickness which is in turn proportional to the surface area, indicating that the surface area could be a dominating factor that dictates the device performance. In addition, it was found that the performance of DSSC is sensitive to the thickness of aGNP thickness. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) indicated that aGNP possessed excellent electrocatalytic activity for triiodide reduction at the interface between electrolyte and counter electrode. This suggests that the aGNP is a promising, cost effective counter electrode material with similar efficiency to Pt counter electrode for the DSSC application.",

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AB - Graphene nanoplatelets were activated by a hydrothermal method using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activating agent. The activation process significantly increases the sample specific surface area from 2.4 m2/g to 48 m2/g. The activated graphene nanoplatelets (aGNP) were used as counter electrode (CE) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). DSSCs fabricated using aGNP as counter electrodes were tested under standard AM 1.5 illumination with an intensity of 91.5 mW/cm2. The optimized device achieved an overall power conversion efficiency of 7.7%, which is comparable to the conventional platinum counter electrode (8%). The device efficiency (η) and short-circuit current density (Jsc) are dependent on the thickness which is in turn proportional to the surface area, indicating that the surface area could be a dominating factor that dictates the device performance. In addition, it was found that the performance of DSSC is sensitive to the thickness of aGNP thickness. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) indicated that aGNP possessed excellent electrocatalytic activity for triiodide reduction at the interface between electrolyte and counter electrode. This suggests that the aGNP is a promising, cost effective counter electrode material with similar efficiency to Pt counter electrode for the DSSC application.

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Effect of graphene nanoplatelet thickness on electrochemical performance of dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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