Abstract
Background: In dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), the semiconductor photoanode plays a vital role in gathering photo-excited electrons from the sensitizer. Generally, the photoconversion efficiency of photoanode is hampered by electron-hole recombination. To circumvent this, modification of TiO2 nanotubes with amine functionalized graphene oxide (GO) has been attempted.
Methods: Nanocomposites consisting of ethylenediamine functionalized graphene oxide (GO/NH2) and titania nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) are prepared by hydrothermal method and are incorporated with 3 wt% of Ag nanoparticles. The nanocomposites are studied using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, TEM and XPS techniques.
Significant Findings: The GO surface acquire defect structure and disorder after amine functionalization which occurs via reactive oxygen groups to form C-N bond. The nano-silver incorporated amine functionalized GO modified TiO2 nanotubes (TiO2 NTs-GO/NH2/Ag) exhibit high dye adsorption capacity and leads to more light gathering. The DSSC fabricated with TiO2 NTs-GO/NH2/Ag photoanode exhibits very good photo-conversion efficiency (8.18%). Significant light-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of the TiO2 NTs-GO/NH2/Ag photoanode DSSC is due to the efficient charge transport at the interfaces, high dye loading and broad absorption by the sensitizer adsorbed TiO2 NTs-GO/NH2/Ag thin-film. (C) 2022 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.