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Improved DSSC photovoltaic performance using reduced graphene oxide–carbon nanotube/platinum assisted with customised triple-tail surfactant as counter electrode and zinc oxide nanowire/titanium dioxide nanoparticle bilayer nanocomposite as photoanode

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Abstract

In this work, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was produced from graphene oxide (GO) by a reduction process, which utilised hydrazine hydrate as reducing agent. GO was initially synthesised by electrochemical exfoliation assisted with customised triple-tail sodium 1,4-bis(neopentyloxy)-3-(neopentyloxycarbonyl)-1,4-dioxobutane-2-silphonate (TC14) surfactant. The produced TC184-rGO solution was subsequently hybridised with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) from waste palm oil. The produced TC14-rGO and TC14-rGO/MWCNTs hybrid solution was fabricated as thin films by spray coating method. Afterwards, Pt nanoparticle (NP) coating was fabricated. The films were used as counter electrode (CE) for dye-sensitised solar cell (DSSC) application. Three other CEs, namely TC14-rGO, TC14-rGO/MWCNTs hybrid and TC14-rGO/Pt hybrid, were fabricated for comparison. Zinc oxide nanowire (NWR)/titanium dioxide nanoparticle (NP) bilayer was utilised as photoanode and fabricated via sol–gel immersion and squeegee method. Solar simulator measurement showed that the highest DSSC performance was exhibited by TC14-rGO/MWCNTs/Pt hybrid, which presented an energy conversion efficiency, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit-current density and fill factor of 0.0842%, 0.608 V, 0.285 mA/cm2 and 0.397, respectively. The combination of TC14-rGO/MWCNTs/Pt hybrid CE and ZnO NWR/TiO2 NP bilayer photoanode improved the DSSC performance due to the large surface area of TC14-rGO and MWCNTs, the high electrical conductivity of MWCNTs and the high quality and less agglomeration of thin rGO film assisted with triple-tail TC14 surfactant. The ZnO NWR/TiO2 NP bilayer photoanode also demonstrated a large surface area that can optimally adsorb dye molecules and increase the photo-exciton electrons, which further improve the DSSC performance.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the TWAS-COMSTECH Joint Research Grant (Grant Code 2017-0001-102-11) and Fundamental Research Grand Scheme (Grant Code 2015-0154-102-02) for providing financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Nanotechnology Research Centre, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900, Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia

    Suriani Abu Bakar,  Fatiatun, Azmi Mohamed,  Muqoyyanah & Norhayati Hashim

  2. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900, Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia

    Suriani Abu Bakar,  Fatiatun &  Muqoyyanah

  3. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900, Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia

    Azmi Mohamed & Norhayati Hashim

  4. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, NANO-Electronic Centre (NET), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

    Mohamad Hafiz Mamat

  5. NANO-SciTech Centre (NST), Institute of Science (IOS), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

    Mohamad Hafiz Mamat

  6. Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Microelectronic and Nanotechnology-Shamsuddin Research Centre (MiNT-SRC), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400, Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia

    Mohd Khairul Ahmad

  7. Materials Research Group, Thin Film Laboratory, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES), Sekaran Gunungpati, Semarang, 50229, Indonesia

    Putut Marwoto

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Correspondence to Suriani Abu Bakar.

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Bakar, S.A., Fatiatun, Mohamed, A. et al. Improved DSSC photovoltaic performance using reduced graphene oxide–carbon nanotube/platinum assisted with customised triple-tail surfactant as counter electrode and zinc oxide nanowire/titanium dioxide nanoparticle bilayer nanocomposite as photoanode. Graphene Technol 4, 17–31 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41127-019-00024-x

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