Titanium Nitride Blended Graphene Nanoplatelets as Low-cost and Efficient Composite Counter Electrode for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and titanium nitride (TiN) 1:1 wt% ratio composite was prepared by a simple mechanical mixing and employed as a low-cost counter electrode in the dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) fabrication. Similarly, GNP was made composite with poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) for comparison purpose. X-ray diffraction analysis of the composites indicated that the crystalline cubic phase TiN particles were blended with GNP. The comparison of photovoltaic performance of GNP-TiN, GNP-PEDOT:PSS composites with pure GNP employed as DSSC counter electrodes showed a superior power conversion efficiency (4.37%) and a higher shunt resistance (315.92 Ω/cm2) for the GNP-TiN composite due to its good electrocatalytic activity and better material adhesion with a low sheet resistance (1.42 Ω/sq). This makes GNP-TiN composite as a better counter electrode material for DSSC applications.