Electrochemical performance of decorated reduced graphene oxide by MoO3 nanoparticles as a counter electrode

Abstract

We present an efficient electrocatalytic material based on anchored MoO3 nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (RGM). After preparation of graphene oxide (GO), the MoO3 nanoparticles anchored on GO nanosheet by using the arc-discharge method. FTIR and Raman spectroscopy results show that GO nanosheets are reduced due to arc-discharge and decorated by MoO3 nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm that the MoO3 nanoparticles are well crystallized on reduced GO (RGO) in the orthorhombic crystalline phase with a crystallite size of 83 nm. The surface energy of the electrode based on RGM was measured as 44.56 mJ m−2, which shows the desirable spreading ability of the electrolyte on the electrode. Finally, electrochemical performance was studied in the symmetrical dummy cell by impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Our results show that the electrochemical performance of the RGM electrode (with the charge transfer and series cell resistance of 64.96 and 5.88 Ωcm2, respectively) is better than the RGO electrode and is comparable with the Pt electrode. In addition, the photochemical tests show that the efficiency of the cell by RGM counter electrode in a dye-sensitized solar cell is 5.55% with a fill factor of 63%.