Fabrication and characterization of RGO/WO3 nanocomposites based working electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)

Abstract

The hydrothermal approach for photovoltaic applications introduces an easy and scalable synthesis of RGO/WO3 nanocomposites. Some advanced techniques such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy showed that high-quality RGO/WO3 nanocomposites contained single crystal WO3 nanoparticles in the characterization of RGO/WO3 nanocomposites. Due to its charge transport and light-scattering properties, the RGO/WO3 photoanode with DSSC greatly improved the cell efficiency. A power conversion efficiency of 7.9% was demonstrated by the RGO/WO3 DSSC, which is better than that of the bare WO3 (4.1%) and industrial Pt (%) electrolytes. The results indicate that the electrochemical efficiency of the RGO/WO3 electrode shows a higher charge transfer and series cell resistance of 48.5 and 9.7 cm2, respectively) than the RGO electrode and is equivalent to the Pt electrode. The improved PCE mechanism of the composite sample was also discussed in detail.