Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnO/Graphene Quantum Dots-Polymer as an Efficient Photoanode Electrode for High-Performance Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Authors

  • Majid R. Al-bahrani , Hayder Hasan Ali , Ansam J. Talib

Abstract

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are proposed for dye-sensitized solar cells
(DSSCs), depending on their unique properties. The GQDs-polypyrrole (GQDs-PPy)
composite was synthesized using the hydrothermal method. ZnO nanoparticles were added to
the GQDs-PPy at 160 °C temperature for 72 h. The structural characteristics and
photovoltaic performance measurements of ZnO/GQDs-PPy composites as a photoanode
electrode were examined using the scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray
diffractometry (XRD), and current and voltage measuring device (2400 Source meter
Keithley), respectively. By adjusting devices built in our laboratory, the J-V properties of the
M3 device show PCE optimization with which we used ZnO/GQDs-PPy as a photoanode.
The optical absorption in GQDs was increased, resulting in improved M3 device
characteristics when GQDs were added to ZnO. The unique structural and optical properties
of the GQDs make them a superior candidate to substitute the conventional semiconductor
quantum dots. When we added PPy to ZnO/GQDs as photoanode with a thickness of 12 µm,
We contrived to improve the density short circuit current (Jsc) and power conversion
efficiency (PCE) from 14.630 to 17.123 mA.cm-2
and from 7.34 % to 8.619 %, respectively,
for the effective area 10 mm2
.

Published

2020-12-01

Issue

Section

Articles