Phosphorus-doped reduced graphene oxide as an electrocatalyst counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

In this study, phosphorus (P) atoms were doped into reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with two bonding states of P–C and P–O by using annealing treatment. For the first time, the P-doped rGO (PrGO) was employed as the counter electrode (CE) for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The electrochemical studies reveal that the P doping can effectively enhance the electrocatalytic activity of rGO, and P–C structures have higher electrocatalytic activity than P–O ones for I−/I3− redox reaction. More significantly, PrGO shows comparable electrocatalytic ability to Pt as CEs. It therefore seems promising for PrGO to be widely used in metal-free DSSCs with low cost and high efficiency.